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Blame All Around At Failure To Contain ISIS; FIFA Attempts to Explain $10 Million Payment; Gaza Reconstruction Hampered by Lack of Materials; Massive Search Underway for Survivors of Yangtze River Cruise Capsize; Caitlyn Jenner Introduced In Vanity Fair. Aired 11:00a-12:00p ET
Aired June 02, 2015 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:15] BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Coming together to take on ISIS, Iraq's prime minister tells an international coalition they need to do more
to help stop the militant group.
We're live in Paris. We're also in Baghdad for you to get the latest on the ground.
And racing against the clock, rescue efforts underway after a tourist ship carrying hundreds capsizes in China. We're on the scene in Diyali
(ph).
And more trouble for FIFA. Well, is Sepp Blatter's top lieutenant involved in a reported $10 million transaction to another FIFA official?
Well, we'll tell you what FIFA is saying about that.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World with Becky Anderson.
ANDERSON: At just after 7:00 here in the UAE, I want to begin for you tonight with the frantic search for survivors of the Eastern Star, that's
the cruise ship that capsized in stormy weather on China's Yangtze River late on Monday.
It's now been more than 24 hours since the disaster. And hopes of finding more survivors fading fast.
An enormous rescue effort is underway involving thousands of people and dozens of vessels, but so far only 15 of the 458 people on board have
been found alive.
Five bodies have also been recovered.
Well, CNN's David McKenzie joins us now from the county very close to the search area -- David.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Becky. And behind me is the staging ground of this frantic search. And
they've been going now for 25 hours with divers, with rescue teams, tapping on the hull of that upturned vessel in the Yangtze River trying to get any
sign of a proof of life.
We've had some moments of hope today with a handful of people pulled out alive from underneath the murky waters here, but overall it's a tragic
story right now. Hundreds still missing, most of them elderly, who are on a pleasure cruise for several days here, very popular destination for
particularly elderly Chinese, ranging in ages from 60 through to 80, 65 year old woman was pulled from underneath the vessel, presumably she had
found an airlock.
And now we're learning more details, also, of what might have happened. The weather service here in China saying they're confirming
there was a tornado during the time of when this ship went down, that lines up with what state media says the captain and the chief engineer said about
what happened. They managed to get away with their lives. They've been now taken into custody.
But interesting details of what might have happened, because it appears this all went down very, very quickly.
ANDERSON: So, what are we hearing at this point, about the circumstances?
Sounds as if we may have lost David. Difficult circumstances there. Clearly, the weather incredibly difficult. If we can get him back on what
is, you know, a very fast moving and difficult story, we will for you.
Let me move on, though, at this point.
Iraq's prime minister says the rise of ISIS is a failure for the entire world, accusing the international community of promising a lot, but
delivering very little. Haider al-Abadi appealed for more support during a meeting of coalition partners in Paris earlier. Western and Middle Eastern
allies in turn urged Iraq to heal factional divisions and unite the country against ISIS.
Well, Prime Minister al-Abadi says his troops urgently need more weapons, ammunition and intelligence help. And he says this is not Iraq's
problem alone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAIDER AL-ABADI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We need to DAESH not only in Iraq, in the whole region, but throughout the world.
We've been invited by Mr. Fabius, a very generous invitation, we're going to meet with President Hollande with a view to strengthen the relations
between Iraq and the coalition.
But we need more support to Iraqi forces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And that is the Iraqi prime minister speaking Paris earlier. We are covering the story from all angles for you, bringing you
the details and the analysis that you'd only find on CNN, of course.
Jim Bittermann is in the French capital with more on today's conference. Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon following U.S. efforts to
strengthen Iraq's defense.
As Nick Paton Walsh is on the ground in Iraq. He'll be joining us with the latest developments from Baghdad shortly.
Jim, let's start with you in Paris. And the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius hosted these talks, focus we were told how to cut off ISIS
finances and stop its influence from spreading. What was the upshot of these talks?
[11:05:37] JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, Becky, one of the things is they started with recriminations. The
Iraqi prime minister, for example, was saying that the coalition wasn't doing enough. This is a rough coalition of about 60 countries, there are
about 26 of them here in Paris today. And in any case, that they weren't doing enough.
So, the group wanted to make a show of the fact that they are doing something. They, on the other hand, were accusing the Iraqis of failing in
al Anbar Province, losing the city of Ramadi, and so they had some accusations ahead of time, too. They seem to have worked that out, because
they've convinced the prime minister, the Iraqi prime minister, that he needs to unify the opposition to ISIS better. He needs to get the tribal
fighters involved in this. There has to be a unified control. These are all points they've made in their final declaration. And they're going to
come up with some weaponry to help him out, the United States, through John Kerry who is at the conference via telephone, because he was basically in
his hospital bed in Massachusetts where he's going to be operated on for that broken leg.
In any case, he said then promised, that the United States would be even maybe this week sending more anti-tank weapons to Iraq to help the
fight against ISIS and carrying out more airstrikes.
So, basically it's a multi-faceted plane. But clearly, I think everybody was admitting that what happened in Anbar Province in the last
few weeks has been nothing short of a disaster in terms of the fight against ISIS, Becky.
ANDERSON: Jim is in Paris for you.
Let me just bring in Barbara Starr, because those gathered we're hearing about promises of more weaponry, and this has been one of the
criticisms, of course, Barbara, the Iraqi prime minister himself saying despite coalition pledges, Iraq has received almost none so far as weapons
are concerned.
We are, he said, relying on ourselves. Is that fair?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, from his point of view clearly, but the reality on the ground, of course, is as ISIS has
advanced over recent months, the Iraqis have left a lot of the American provided weapons behind and just in the last 48 hours other Iraqi officials
noting that they're likely to lose more weapons as ISIS advances and the Iraqis have left some things behind.
So, what we know now is that the U.S. is, and is already the first load has arrived of the so-called AT-4 anti-armor weapons from the U.S.
These are shoulder fired weapons for the Iraqis to use to try to defeat those large IEDs that ISIS is now putting inside of heavy armored vehicles,
one of them recently an explosives laden tank. They need weapons to counter those.
But, you know, they also need weapons training. And the U.S. view is they need to stay on the battlefield with good leadership from the Iraqi
government. They cannot afford another situation like Ramadi when Iraqi troops left -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Nick, you are in Baghdad. This is a global failure, says the Iraqi prime minister in this -- talking and alluding to this anti-ISIS
strategy. Not the first time that we've heard accusations of broken promises and pledges from the Iraqis.
But where are the regional policies, Nick?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, everybody has their share of blame here to some degree, Becky. I mean, regionally,
yes, we are talking about an Iraqi government here which has done very little to shore up support for the Sunnis who were in Anbar and could have
been defending it more vigorously had they, they say, been given the weapons that they've been asking for for months to defend cities like
Ramadi in Anbar.
And then of course there is the broader issue in Syria where Iran is backing their only government here in Baghdad, but the Syrian regime, too.
They are both opposed to ISIS and there is an argument being made by some, Russia in particular, in fact, that if you were to get the Assad regime to
be a partner in the airstrikes against ISIS, then that would effectively end this issue much faster.
But the most important thing to take away from Paris is we didn't really see anything new. Yet again, we have all these world leaders
gathered together, and no massive gamechanging statement that comes out of it. And in fact, we see daylight, frankly, between the Iraqi government
who are clear they want more and Tony Blinken, the deputy secretary of state who is clear they're pursuing the right strategy, and they think
things are going in the right direction, pointing out that 25 percent less territory is held by ISIS than was the case before this strategy was
implemented.
So, a very different script that some of them are reading, whilst the script has a title pretty much saying we are unified and we will stick
together and we'll pursue this strategy with focus.
But each month it goes past, the ground is changing here substantially as are the divisions and the gaps in between the various parts of the
allies here becoming more pronounced, Becky.
[11:10:46] ANDERSON: Nick, you've been on the ground, you've been on the front lines in this war against ISIS. The U.S. said its coalition
partners will say the Iraqis need to get its house in order so far as they're strategy is concerned, as you rightly point out. A lot of talking
in Paris once again. And still people are dying on the ground.
If you had to step back for a moment, just describe for our viewers what you have been seeing and hearing over the past couple of weeks when
you have been out and about. What's the story?
WALSH: Well, I think the devastating thing here for normal Iraqis is the level of high explosive that's used in this in a very asymmetrical kind
of way. I mean, I'm literally standing here, the two luxurious hotels of Baghdad, that is allegedly more secure area. We were hit by blasts at the
weekend.
There was another bomb in Baghdad recently, too, in the areas we travel near the front lines. There are many less civilians there because
they've fled the fighting to some degree. But if you look at the town of Tikrit, that is massively devastated by the fighting for that between Iraqi
government forces and the Shia fighting groups alongside them and ISIS as well.
Even to the north where we were -- where we are now. We were a few days ago near Samarra. There were substantial suicide bomb attack launched
by ISIS against security forces based there, that tried to use an armored vehicle to get in, kill 34 security forces even though it didn't
successfully penetrate that base, they used an armored vehicle to get that close.
The violence is staggering. And it is also remarkable to note how it seems often to be done by non-state actors. The Shia fighting groups are
part of the government response here, but in many ways they're not part of the army.
So it's a very mixed picture. It's very scrappy at times. The lines are very fluid. And in between all of that mess, frankly, as civilians
whose lives have just denigrated month by month by month by this campaign here -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Yeah.
Nick Paton Walsh is in Baghdad, Barbara Starr in Washington for you, and Jim Bittermann in Paris. Thank you.
We're going to have a lot more on the fight against ISIS ahead in the program, including a look at the militants' dramatic gains only a year
after they blew into the headlines, and less than a year after their shock capture of Mosul.
We'll also get some perspective from a senior diplomatic correspondent for Al Hayat, a leading Arabic daily for you, looking at this story through
the prism of the region.
Still to come tonight, circling in: how fresh allegations against the top FIFA executive bringing the accusing finger a step closer to Sepp
Blatter's door. More on that coming up.
And nearly a year after what was a 50 day conflict between Israel and Hamas, many parts of Gaza still look like a war zone. A report on the slow
process of rebuilding. That is a little later in the program.
This is CNN and Connect the World with me Becky Anderson at 13 minutes past 7:00 in Abu Dhabi, we're talking a short break. Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:15:49] ANDERSON: Welcome back. This is CNN and Connect the World with me Becky Anderson at 15 minutes pas 7:00 in the UAE.
The threat of ISIS is something that we have covered closely here on Connect the World.
Now a year after their rise to prominence, let us take a pause for a moment and look back at the group for you. I want to set some context for
you.
June 2014, ISIS announces itself to the world. The terror group declares a caliphate stretching across Iraq and into Syria. And in quick
succession, major cities like Mosul and Tikrit fall into their deadly grasp.
Then, the battle spreads to Sinjar, Kobani and deep into Syria before seeping into Egypt and North Africa.
In early 2015, ISIS claims responsibility for the vicious attack on the offices of the satirical cartoon magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. And
a year on, despite efforts by an international coalition professing to fight the group ISIS's tentacles of terror have reached into Libya,
Australia and even the United States.
On Tuesday, 20 world ministers converged in Paris to discuss the battle against the militant group and its spreading gains, but some
fighting ISIS, including Russia, Iran and Syria, for example, are not attending. And while these ministers meet again and again to discuss the
growing power of ISIS, the group has never looked stronger.
Well, my next guest says it is vital to repair the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition. Raghida Derghan is a columnist and senior diplomatic
correspondent for the London-based daily Al Hayat. Thank you for joining me.
You've been on this show before, and it's great to have you back.
Repairing something, Raghida, suggests that it worked at the outset.
RAGHIDA DERGHAM, AL HAYAT: It did. They did take of Kobani, and the coalition members were quite keen to look at ISIS as an existentialist
threat to all of them, and then politics happened. And then, you know, step forward and step backwards. And of course the administration in
Washington got terribly obsessed with Iran, Iran, Iran. And that created some friction amongst some members of the coalition, not that they are less
interested in defeating ISIS, but then you need the politics to come along with the military operations in Iraq and in Syria.
ANDERSON: Let me talk about the regional policies in a moment, because we've just been talking to Nick Paton Walsh about that as well.
Let me get back to, though, U.S. policy. Americans increasingly unhappy with the U.S.-led war against ISIS. And President Barack Obama
getting a lot of the blame, as you and I well know.
A CNN/ORC poll shows 63 percent of respondents disapprove of the way the U.S. president is handling ISIS, just 32 percent, Raghida, approved.
When asked how the war was going -- this is a new poll -- 61 percent of those polled said badly, that's up from 58 percent in February and 49
percent last October.
If his handling of this battle against ISIS is unpopular in the states, in this region his strategy is seen as an out and out failure, and
by extension his presidency.
DERGHAM: I must say, I am an American citizen, and I must say that Americans are very confused. The public has been sending conflicting
signals all the time.
They want to win this war, but they don't want to pay any price for it, and therefore they're obsessed with no troops and no boots on the
ground.
OK, I understand, but there are certain battles that can't be won only by air. And there are certain times that Americans just can't get away
with saying do it all over there, because we can't have it here.
And therefore we need to actually have some clarity on the level of the public, not only on the level of the administration, and the
administration is all over the place. For example, Becky, forgive me to interrupt you, but for example the partnership, the de facto partnership
between Iran and the United States is one that is affecting negatively the coalition because of that Iran first and Iran does and Iran is offering
itself as the only available partner on the ground, that's why they want to stay in Syria and Iraq.
ANDERSON: This region has had an enormous opportunity, to speak of, it continues to speak up, the Gulf leaders and their appointees were in
Washington -- Camp David recently. I'm not sure that they got what they wanted from Washington. What they got was Iran, Iran, Iran.
So, why don't they got on with it themselves in this region? Lots of accusations about international and coalition policy, what about regional
policy?
[11:20:20] DERGHAM: Two, there is both. It can't be done by the region alone. Afterall, remember, ISIS is not -- we don't really know who
these guys are. Mostly, they are covered and we don't even know who they are. We're told that a lot of them are non-Arabs coming from all over the
world to somehow just explode and...
ANDERSON: And a lot of them are Arabs.
DERGHAM: And a lot of them are Arabs, exactly.
So the point is this, that there are policies needed by both.
What you -- go on ignoring in Libya you're going to have a Libya infested with ISIS. You go on with the situation in Syria and letting the
regime go on with battles and having Iran say I am the partner on the ground, so get out of my way, I'm going to stay there, it's going to annoy
the Gulf states to say, no, this is an Arab country.
But absolutely, Becky, the Arab countries have ignored Iraq. They should have paid better attention to Iraq. They didn't do so. And
therefore, all us to blame. No one is -- no one is innocent of what happened in Syria, but we are disintegration of this part of the world.
ANDERSON: This past weekend, Raghida, you wrote that, and I quote, "Iran is America's de facto ally in the war against ISIS." In an op-ed for
Al Arabiya I know you say, and I quote, "this mistakes made by Arab leaders are major mistakes. Iranian ideas have found a sponsor with Barack Hussein
Obama," controversial, "if only federalism could make its way to realistic Arab strategies, this is the best scenario compared to the partition of the
Arab region."
Briefly explain.
DERGHAM: Well, many people are speaking now, and hopefully they're wrong about the partition of Iraq, but many people are saying that we're
going to have a redrawing of the map. But mostly, most people are saying that the disintegration of Syria is what's happening, the ruining of the
lands of the Levante that civilization of the Levante so that is what's worrying to most Arabs.
And you know what, Arabs are accused of their conspiracy theory believers, but yes there are questions to be asked. How come those guys
that are al Qaeda -- I mean, ISIS, the DAESH, the ISIL, why did they get away with as much as they did? We need to ponder that, and we need
policies to make sure that an end is put to them.
ANDERSON: Always a pleasure to have you on. Thank you very much for being here. A lot of sense.
The U.S. campaign against ISIS is now so unpopular with Americans that it's on par with the Iraq war at its pre-surge levels, and that was in
2007.
Yet more on that and who Americans are blaming for the rise of ISIS on the CNN website, CNN.com, you know that, CNN.com.
Live from Abu Dhabi where we broadcast this show, this is Connect the World with me Becky Anderson.
Coming up, FIFA has even more explaining to do as it faces a corruption scandal. What the football world governing body has to say
about where it sent a $10 million payment.
And we're off to Mexico where an old bus station is being revived and turn into (inaudible). That is next in One Square Meter. Back after that.
You're headlines at the bottom of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[11:25:20] JOHN DEFTERIOS, EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: A dazzling display of color and natural light. This building that once housed
Tijuana's main bus station is now home to a dynamic tech cluster of binational companies. Miguel Buenrostro (ph) helped lead the restoration
project.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I remember when I was a child walk in here with my family, with my grandfather and my father and, well, all of this
trip used to be very vibrant and very energetic, you know. So, when I came back and I saw all these buildings like basically abandoned.
DEFTERIOS: At the time in 2010, violence was gripping Tijuana, a border city known to many as the destination for cheap margaritas and vice.
The building itself had been abandoned for seven years as tourism slowed down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we talked to the owners. We knew that there was a possibility that we could do an intervention on these spaces, and we
can create vibrancy again by gathering up a community of people that could walk inside those alleyways or those spaces again.
DEFTERIOS: The community they decided to target was Tijuana's emerging tech industry, and its need for shared offices. The solution was
Hub Station. The city of 1.3 million people is just over the border from California, a key geographical advantage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the same place you can develop your startup really affordable and still get access to both markets, Latin America and
the United States.
DEFTERIOS: The building features private offices as well as a central mixed-use space for freelance members at the cluster. The hexagonal tables
are designed to create flexible meeting environments. As Stephanis Besario (ph) is a community ambassador for Yelp and was hooked on Hub Station on
her first visit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we walked in, we saw like what it was that flows back. We saw like an Uber meeting going on. So it was Uber
representative, it was Marco (ph), who is the co-owner, founder of Hub Station and some other people at the meeting. They were not Uber or
anything, they were just chatting essentially, just bouncing off ideas, brainstorming. It was pretty cool.
DEFTERIOS: Now open for a year, Hub Station is hoping to transform the image of Tijuana.
UNIDENITIFED MALE: The city is telling us, is screaming that it needs spaces like this so it can go to another direction, so it can be thought of
as a different city, not of the same stigma that has been generalizing all these ideas about the border, about Tijuana, you know, by demonstrating
that it's possible to preserve a space.
DEFTERIOS: Miguel has also helped restore the city's alleyways, once notorious execution spots. He now hopes his approach can be used as a
model for other urban areas throughout Mexico.
John Defterios, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:54] ANDERSON: You're watching Connect the World with me Becky Anderson out of Abu Dhabi. The top stories this hour on CNN.
Rescue crews scrambling to find survivors of a cruise ship that capsized in stormy weather on China's Yangtze River late on Monday. So
far, only 15 of the 458 people on board the Eastern Star have been found alive. Five bodies have been recovered.
Iraq's prime minister is urging the world to do more in the fight against ISIS, saying it is in everyone's interest to see the terror group
defeated. At a meeting of coalition partners in Paris, Mr. al-Abadi said his forces urgently need more weapons, ammunition and intelligence help.
A Cairo court has postponed a final ruling on the sentencing of Egypt's former president until June 16. Mohamed Morsy is waiting to find
out if a death sentence handed to him last month will be upheld after the court considers the opinion of the grand mufti, Egypt's highest religious
authority.
Afghan officials say militants killed nine aid workers in an attack on a field office in a northern (inaudible) province. The victims, Afghan
nationals working for Czech aid group People in Need. Authorities say it's unclear who was behind that attack.
Well, another day brings another development in the scandal surrounding FIFA, the besieged governing body of world football if you
didn't know.
In response to a story in Monday's New York Times, FIFA has issued a statement to explain what is a $10 million payment that it made in 2008.
Alex Thomas has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Among the many jaw-dropping allegations from the U.S. Justice Department that overshadowed last week's
FIFA presidential election with details of a $10 million payment in 2008 from FIFA to accounts controlled by Jack Warner. At the time, he was
president of the federation for football in Central and North America and the Caribbean. He was thrown out of the game in 2011 and has been
questioned in relation to the FBI's current corruption probe.
The U.S. Justice Department claims the money was a bribe to help South Africa win the right to host the 2010 World Cup. Warner voted for South
Africa.
According to this letter from South Africa's football association at the time, the $10 million was officially for a football development fund.
It's addressed to Jerome Valke, FIFA's general secretary, and close ally of President Sepp Blatter.
But in a statement on Tuesday, FIFA said neither the Secretary-General Jerome Valke nor any other member of FIFA's senior management were involved
in the initiation, approval and implementation of the above project.
OG Molefe, sports editor of eNCA, a 24 hour news channel in South Africa told me how the FIFA scandal is being viewed there.
OG MOLEFE, SPORTS EDITOR, ENCA: It does sound very charitable if you listen to the words in which it has been put out, but I don't think we've
seen any evidence of that actually happening in terms of football development and what that money went to. Obviously, the FBI stated as
something that would speak towards a bribe, you know, in sort of thanking CONCACAF for voting for South Africa to get the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
All of it, obviously, still having to be proved.
THOMAS: So, the blows keep on raining down on football's beleaguered governing body. Here's what has happened since Sepp Blatter's
controversial reelection as FIFA president on Friday, just a day later, New Zealand barrister Nicholas Davidson quite FIFA ethics committee.
On Sunday, Jack Warner, questioned as part of the U.S. investigation, used a satirical news article to claim the World Cup will be held in
America this year.
On Monday, Michel D'Hooghe, FIFA's chief medical officer and the longest serving ExCo member threatens to quit over the current scandal.
Heather Rabbatts resigns from FIFA's anti-discrimination task force.
CONCACAF's general secretary Enrique Sanx and two Congolese football officials are provisionally banned by FIFA's ethics committee.
Brazilian police say they're investigation Richardo Teixeira, the former head of the country's FA, for money laundering and fraud. And a
judge in Paraguay ordered the arrest of former ExCo member Nicolas Leoz.
And as for the $10 million payment in 2008, FIFA says ultimately it was sanctioned by former finance chief Julio Grondona. We can't get his
reaction because he died last year.
Meanwhile, FIFA is confirmed to CNN that Valke has canceled plans to go to Canada for the women's World Cup, but they tell us Sepp Blatter will
be going to that tournament's final even though he won't be watching this week's Champion's League final in Berlin.
Alex Thomas, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[11:35:36] ANDERSON: Well, we expect FIFA to address what is this latest round of allegations in a news conference at the headquarters in
Zurich coming up in just 30 minutes. You can get that right here, of course, on CNN.
Well, moving on for you, and a powder keg, that is how Germany's foreign minister referred to Gaza. After a visit there on Monday, Frank-
Walter Steinmeier warned the Palestinian territory is at risk of exploding. While calling for an end to rocket fire from Gaza, he also urged Israel to
ease restrictions on imports, buildings supplies among items that are restricted, making it even more difficult for Gaza to rebuild as Nic
Robertson now reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Where once mighty houses stood, now crumpled concrete, pancaked floors,
rebar twisted, clawing in the air, sprouting like angry graffiti. It reveals the scale of destruction in the wake of the war here last summer.
(on camera): According to the United Nations, Israel's operation responding to rockets fired from here inside Gaza destroyed the homes of
more than 9,000 Palestinian refugees and severely damaged the homes of more than 5,000 others. Until now, little has been done to repair them.
(voice-over): Behind me, the house Nidal al Aira once owned, untouched since the war ended. He still visits. A car wheel, his make shift cooker.
He serves tea from a smoke-blackened pot. He wasn't in when the rockets hit.
NIDAL AL AIRA, GAZA RESIDENT (through translation): I tried and tried to get back. Then, when I saw my house, I cried for a night. Then I
realized no one was dead. It's only brick.
ROBERTSON: Nidal fears if he rebuilds now he will waste his money. The house overlooks the fence with Israel, a neighborhood riddled with Hamas
tunnels.
Today, an Israeli surveillance balloon keeps a wary watch, fearing more may be dug.
AL AIRA (through translation): Hamas is here. We want to say, let us live. You want to build tunnels, build them outside not under my home so I
can live and my home can remain standing. And not so after and not so the Jews can bring down my house.
ROBERTSON: His open criticism of Hamas is rare here. He has little to lose. He feels let down by his leaders.
AL AIRA (through translation): The solution is to sit with Arabs and Jews and sign a peace treaty and cease-fire so people here can live in
peace and prosperity. We have seen so much pain here, I want everyone to live and enjoy life.
ROBERTSON: At the restaurant Abdul Saleem (ph) who has much at stake answers my questions about lasting peace cautiously.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This question is too big for me. I can't solve Gaza's problems. I want to see Gaza open, open to the
whole world, and there are no problems. This is the most important thing.
ROBERTSON: In some parts of town, a little U.N. money is being spent, demolishing, making way for the new, rebar recycled, concrete crushed for
reuse too.
From high above Gaza, easy to see, far, far more houses standing than were destroyed. But next time, if there is a next time?
Nic Robertson, CNN, Gaza.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, as we just heard in Nic's report nine months after the cease-fire, rebuilding has quite frankly been slow in Gaza. So where
does the reconstruction process go from here? And what steps has Israel taken in aiding the process?
Well, CNN's Oren Liebemann talked to Israel's head of reconstruction. And he joins us now from Jerusalem. What did he tell you, Oren?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, I spoke with Colonel Grisha Yakubovich who is in charge of the civil division of COGAT (ph) that
oversees Gaza and the rebuilding of Gaza. He says, since the end of the war, the ceasefire, more than a million tons of construction supplies have
entered Gaza, but he says the biggest obstacle to rebuilding is Hamas and dual use materials, materials like concrete -- you heard Nic mention how
difficult that is to get -- and iron. These are critical materials in rebuilding, but Israel says they are also materials that Hamas can easily
seize and use to build more terror tunnels, that is an obstacle to rebuilding.
At the same time, Colonel Grisha Yakubovich is optimistic -- cautiously optimistic about the future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LIEBERMANN: The infrastructure in Gaza needs a tremendous amount of work, a tremendous amount of rebuilding. The economy is in shambles and
there is an international call for rebuilding in Gaza. Why aren't efforts moving faster? Why aren't they moving right now?
COL GRISHA YAKUBOVICH, ISRAELI MINISTER FOR RECONSTRUCTION: Israel is supporting Gaza rehabilitation, and there are more than 1 million tons of
building materials that are already in Gaza, being implemented to reconstruct Gaza in two main channels. One is the international community
channel and with projects that are being implemented by major donors, like Qatar for example.
And under the mechanism of rehabilitating those houses, above 83,000 people already got their building materials. But those are not the only
steps that we are implementing towards Gaza. Kerem Shalom crossing point is a major crossing that an average of 600 trucks are actually bringing goods into Gaza. The capabilities of this
crossing are already adopted to 800 trucks per day and it will be ready to deal with 1,000 trucks per day quite soon.
Almost 5,000 people got permits that are allowed to go out of Gaza and trade with Israelis or with the West Bank from Gaza. This is only an
example of major steps being authorized by COGAT and the state of Israel towards Gaza.
We believe that this support will support Gaza reconstruction.
LIEBERMANN: What is the biggest obstacle to reconstruction?
YAKUBOVISH: One of the major obstacles is first of all Hamas. Hamas needs to stop building their terror force. They need to stop building
weapons. They need to stop building rockets and the solution, OK, for Gaza is that Hamas will not be a terror organization, that the Palestinian
government will rule inside Gaza as a Palestinian authority that we can work with. We cannot work with Hamas.
LIEBERMANN: What is COGAT's position, Israel's position, towards the blockade? And what would it take to lift it?
YAKUBOVISH: We invested millions of shekels to -- in Kerem Shalom crossing point so the people of Gaza will be able to get all the goods that
they need.
Erez crossing point -- more than 1,200 people on a daily basis are using this crossing point. The fishing zone is 6 miles. Can you call it a
blockade?
LIEBERMANN: Are you saying the world is wrong in calling it the Gaza blockade?
YAKUBOVICH: I cannot define it as a blockade. You can see the amount of trucks coming and bringing goods to Gaza on a daily basis. You can see
the thousands of tons of goods being exported abroad or marketed to the West Bank of even to Israel. I would not call it whatever you named it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIEBERMANN: The last question I asked Colonel Yakubovish was what will Gaza look like in five years or ten years, and he pinned that answer
on Hamas. He says if they're willing to work with rebuilding and help, Gaza can be rebuilt.
But Becky, he said, if Hamas just focuses on rebuilding their terror force, there is little hope of rebuilding Gaza within the next few years.
ANDERSON: Meantime, Oren, unemployment, especially among youth, a terrible problem in Gaza. The latest World Bank report that the team was
looking at earlier on says, and I quote, "in Gaza yearly average unemployment increased by as much as 11 percentage points to reach 43
percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, that is probably the highest in the world, they said.
You asked that Israeli representative who is most to blame, they say Hamas, and they say that they won't work with them. But at some point, if
things don't improve -- and we've seen this in the past, you have unemployment, youth unemployment specifically as high as it is, you get
festering problems in environments where people have jobs, they don't have houses, they don't have education, they don't have a health system and
things will explode once again.
Have the Israelis got any strategy going forward aside from saying we're not going to work with Hamas, so therefore I guess the status quo
will be ongoing?
[11:45:20] LIEBERMANN: Well, Israel's strategy there is to work with international organizations, foreign donor countries, particularly Qatar,
which promised the most at a donor's conference and has so far contributed the most. In terms of giving them not only the money, but the construction
materials that go straight to them to aid in rebuilding.
I suspect there the expectation is that once the rebuilding keeps moving forward, once it starts up again and there is reconstruction,
perhaps that may ease the unemployment problem, but Israel certainly sees that as one of the biggest issues in what the German foreign minister
referred to as the powder keg of Gaza and how quickly things can ignite there and lead, perhaps, to another war that it seems everyone here is
trying to avoid.
Becky, I think it's worth noting that there have been two rockets in the last month-and-a-half from Gaza that came over and landed in Israel.
There was no escalation from either side. The rockets didn't damage anything on this side, didn't injure anybody. Israel responded, didn't
injure anybody in Gaza.
There seemed to be an effort to avoid escalation, avoid what happened last summer.
ANDERSON: Yeah, you make a very good point.
OK, Oren, thank you.
Live from Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World with me Becky Anderson. Coming up, a celebration of wild birds. We take a look at falconry and how
just like humans the character of a bird can quite frankly shine on film.
And call me Caitlyn. Former Olympic athlete Bruce Jenner shows off a new name and a new identity as a woman.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: This is CNN. You're watching Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson. Welcome back.
It is the magazine cover that seems everybody is talking about. Caitlyn Jenner has made her debut in Vanity Fair's July issue. She is the
reality TV star and Olympic gold medalist formally known as Bruce Jenner who has just made the transition from a man to a woman at the age of 65.
Randi Kaye with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRUCE JENNER, FORMER OLYMPIC GOLD SWIMMER: Bruce always had to tell a lie. He was always living that lie.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Caitlyn Jenner talking about her former self, Bruce Jenner, opening up about her transition during
this two-day photo shoot with Photographer Annie Liebovitz for "Vanity Fair's" July cover.
JENNER: Caitlyn doesn't have any secrets. As soon as the "Vanity Fair" cover comes out, I'm free.
KAYE: This is the cover Caitlyn is talking about, a very different cover than Bruce Jenner's 1982 "Playgirl." We last saw Bruce back in April
when he sat down with Diane Sawyer, his last interview as a man.
[11:50:09] JENNER: My brain is much more female than it is male. It's hard for people to understand that. But that's what my soul is.
KAYE: Bruce had been taking hormones, had his body hair removed, his nose fixed and his trachea shaved. But it was his facial surgery back in
March that completed the transition and Caitlyn's new look.
JENNER: I was probably at the games because I was running away from a lot of things. Very, very proud of the accomplishments. I don't want to
diminish that accomplishment.
KAYE: That accomplishment landed Bruce Jenner in the history books. He broke the world record in the 1976 Olympics winning the decathlon at just
26. He was the guy on the Wheaties box.
ANNOUNCER: Wheaties is the breakfast of champions.
KAYE; In this extensive 22-page cover story, Caitlyn reveals that during speeches given after the Olympics, she'd wear a bra and panty hose
under her suit. Caitlyn also shares she suffered a panic attack the day after that ten-hour facial feminization surgery, thinking to herself, "What
did I just do to myself."
(on camera): The article also reveals Caitlyn Jenner hosted girls nights where she could dress and feel like a woman. Even her daughter,
Cassandra attended, telling "Vanity Fair," it felt like they could just be girls together.
(voice-over): To those who think this transition is a stunt for TV ratings, Caitlyn says think again.
JENNER: It's not about the fanfare. It's not about people cheering in the stadium. It's not about going down the street and everybody giving me a
that-a-boy, Bruce, pat on the back. OK? This is about your life.
KAYE: A life to be lived now as Caitlyn Jenner.
She posted this on Twitter, "I'm so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self. Welcome to the world Caitlyn. Can't wait for you
to get to know her, me."
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: You're watching Connect the World with me Becky Anderson. We are out of Abu Dhabi for you at 52 minutes past the hour here of 7:00.
A little bit more of the show. Coming up, Parting Shots for you. We'll show you the unique partnership between man and falcon as we take a closer
look at the sport of kings.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: This is CNN, Connect the World with me Becky Anderson just before the end of the show, your Parting Shots of course as ever on this
show.
The ancient sport of falconry tonight for you through the lens of photographer Erruta Kingma (ph). He shows us the strong bond of trust
between falcons and their owners and one -- what we, or any of us, might learn from the other.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIIFED MALE: The falcons of Arabia is a great summary of falconry in the Middle East. They can all round UAE, so Dubai and Abu
Dhabi. And it was all about celebrating the sport of falconry, celebrating the beauty of falconry.
What made shooting the concept of Falcons of Arabia is a special was that we were working with a wild bird. You know, we're not shooting a
parrot or a hawk, because these birds can be trained, but a falcon is and always will be a wild bird.
I do a lot of photography of people. And some people just love being in front of the camera and some people just don't like it.
Working with falcons, I sort of experience the same -- some falcons just love it. They just move around, they throw their head to the back,
they start moving their wings about. And some falcons just do not enjoy it at all.
So, for me I sort of -- in that case, I guess falcons have their own little characters, which makes the bird so special and unique.
I get Emirates at work and it's this amazing bond between a falcon and the owner.
Trust between falconer and the falcon.
We have an Emirati you got birds in there. This is their territory.
Falconry teaches us so much more, it's about patience, it's about, you know, handling birds, working with animals and building that relationship
and trust. And I think that they'll be great to sort of pass on generation.
My name is Erruta Kingma (ph), and these were my shots.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Quite remarkable. You can -- there you go -- he was relieved, wasn't it, at the end of all of that.
We do a lot of that on CNN -- photos that really tell stories and we'd love to see yours, our Parting Shots are yours, of course. So send us your
photos, your videos, what you think about the show. You can always follow the team and what they are working on throughout the day. Do check out
Facebook with CNN Connect the World Facebook site that's Facebook.com/CNNConnect.
Lots and lots of stuff. And it's yours. This is a journey we take together connecting the world. @BeckyCNN is how you can get in touch with
me. That is @BeckyCNN.
We are waiting on a FIFA press conference out of headquarters in Zurich. CNN will be on that for you top of the hour. We were expecting
that, but do stay with CNN. That's it from the team here.
END
