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New Video Shows Moment El Chapo Escaped; The Reason for Donald Trumps Popularity; New Report Blames Russia For MH17; Protests in Greece as Public Rejects Austerity; Jordan Speith Goes for Three Straight; The Worsening Yemen Crisis. Aired 11:00a-12:00p ET

Aired July 16, 2015 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:31] BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Selling the deal: Britain's foreign secretary takes the case for the agreement with Iran directly to one of its

harshest critics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILIP HAMMOND, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: We would not have agreed to the deal unless we were sure we had robust measures in place to deliver

effective oversight of Iran's nuclear program.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, coming up, we're going to see what kind of reaction the pitch is getting here in the region.

Also ahead, we'll take you inside the tunnel used in the daring escape by one of the world's most notorious drug lords.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's the access point that El Chapo used to escape outside of this maximum security prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And later, going up -- Donald Trump rises controversial stand all the way to the top of the polls. We'll ask if he's a serious contender

for the White House.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World with Becky Anderson

ANDERSON: A very good evening, just after 7:00 in the evening here. The harder that supporters the Iran nuclear deal press their case, the more

Israel is making clear it is simply not having it.

Israel is rebuffing efforts on multiple fronts to sell the landmark agreement, calling it fundamentally flawed. The deal signed this week

limits Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a country with Iran's track record

doesn't deserve any concessions.

He spoke today in Jerusalem alongside Britain's foreign secretary drawing a rather sharp response.

(BEGIN VIDO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: It cannot be that an unreformd, unrepentant Iran that seeks continuously to wipe us off the map,

dispatches killers to kill our people, and not only our people, neighboring states as well, who share our concern, is given the sanctions relief, is

given the removal of limitations on its nuclear program without changing its genocidal policies against Israel, its terrorist activities in the

region and beyond the region, its commitment to exporting the Islamic revolution throughout the world.

HAMMOND: We have always been clear that his deal was about the nuclear file. The sanctions regime is around Iran's illegal nuclear activities.

And those demonstrations you refer to we also heard chants of death to America and death to Britain.

We will judge Iran not by the chants of the crowds on the streets of Tehran, but by the actions of its government and their agents around the

region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, U.S. President Barack Obama took pains on Wednesday to stress that the U.S. and its allies understand what he called Israel's,

quote, legitimate concerns.

Well, now we are learning what Washington may be prepared to do to strengthen Israel's security. A New York Times report says the U.S.

administration is offering to increase military aid.

Well, let's get details from the White House correspondent, shall we? Michelle Kosinski. She's live for you in Washington today.

President Obama, Michelle, investing an awful lot of capital in this deal. On the political front, that much has been clear for some time. Now we're

learning a little more.

What's the cost here, Michelle?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as for that New York Times report that you mentioned, the White House is essentially confirming it,

although not in those words, and not quite as concrete a term as that.

What they're saying is that there's no specific package of additional assistance prepared for Israel, but they said what they offered was a

series of what they're calling intensive consultations. That they want to expand the relationship, further strengthen it, as well as keep on working

on what they say, are you know, already robust actions to prevent Iran from destabilizing the region any further.

But the White House says that repeatedly the White House made this offer for these consultations to Israel, but repeatedly Israel turned them down.

So the White House is saying that that offer still stands.

So, again, they're not saying that this included additional military aid, but considering that the U.S. already gives Israel so much. It's of course

outside the realm of possibility that that would be a big part of it, given Israel's staunch opposition to this plan. I mean, prime minister Benjamin

Netanyahu said that it was a historic mistake for the world. A criticism doesn't really get any more harsh than that.

So, you have the U.S. trying to deal with Israel now. And in the readout of the phone call that was made by President Obama to Netanyahu the other

day, I mean, they were really careful, similar to the way you put it, to stress this stalwart commitment that the U.S. has to Israel's security and

to emphasize that the -- there's now unprecedented cooperation in the area of security.

So really wanting to emphasize the strength of that relationship and that that will continue as this deal really hashes out, Becky.

[11:05:57] ANDERSON: It was remarkable to see the atmosphere at that press conference between the British foreign minister and the Israeli prime

minister. Philip Hammond effectively doing the bidding for the U.S. and others in why the deal is a good one for the world.

The U.S. administration today has also been talking about quite frankly why it had to make this deal. What was the reasoning there?

KOSINSKI: Right. They've really been trying to cover all their bases. I mean every aspect of this deal, and its reasons, and the possibilities were

congress here in America to vote disapproval for it. I mean the U.S. is basically saying that the deal would break apart, but if the U.S. continued

sanctions Europe would not go along with it, that Europe was ready to lift those sanctions, to do busines with Iran again as long as the paths to a

nuclear weapon were blocked.

Here's Tony Blinken with the State Department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLINKEN, U.;S. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: The deal was this: our partners around the world came in on this reluctantly. They were losing

money. They didn't believe that this was the way to go. We brought them along.

And the deal was that once Iran satisfied, the concerns of the international community the sanctions would go away. That's why they were

imposed in the first place. That was the deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: And that's interesting, because again, congress here wants to keep congressional sanctions on Iran. If congress rejects this deal, the

White House is emphasizing that there's no guarantee any other country would then want to put sanctions back on, or not lift its own sanctions and

therefore what would sanctions coming from the U.S. really mean anyway? The White House is saying they wouldn't even be effective -- Becky.

ANDERSON: It is ironic, the U.S. dragging the Europeans along in sanctions against Russia only a year ago.

I wonder what the Russian president would have to say about all of this.

Well, we do know that Obama has spoken to them -- to him. We don't know exactly what's being said.

But anyway, perhaps that's for another day. Michelle, for the time being, thank you very much indeed for joining us. Michelle Kosinski is in

Washington for you this evening.

Well, Greece has been thrown an economic lifeline after European finance ministers approved handing another 7.6 billion dollars.

Well, the bridge loan will help Greece pay some urgent bills, including to the European Central Bank and international monetary fund. Another rescue

package will increase emergency funding for Greek banks.

That is after violence erupted in Athens on Wednesday night. Anti- austerity protesters hurling firebombs at police who responded with tear gas. That coming after very controversial austerity reforms were passed,

measures that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he opposed, but had little choice on. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXIS TSIPRAS, PRIME MINISTER OF GREECE (through translator): The options that I had to choose from were very specific. The one option was to accept

an agreement to which I radically disagreed with on many points. The second choice was bankruptcy. I don't want to refer to its consequences.

We all know them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, to help us understand what this means for Greece's recovery and for the eurozone and Europe as a whole, CNN's Maggie Lake

joins us now from New York.

Maggie, is this money enough to begin turning things around?

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's enough to stabilize things, Becky. And remember in addition to that bridge loan, very importantly you have the

ECB coming in today saying they are going to extend emergency liquidity, a line of credit, which again helps stabilize it.

But make no doubt about it, this is an economy and a banking system that is still on life support, that is still incredibly fragile. And I think that

there is a lot of concern and skepticism about whether this deal that's being hammered out and watched closely can actually be carried through.

And some investors saying listen it has to go absolutely perfectly. And you could see how both sides the fact that there is sort of still

resistance, talk about getting dragged into a deal that you're not happy with on both sides.

So, there's a lot of caution out there.

Interestingly, I want to stay on the ECB for a moment. So they extended the emergency line of credit to help support things, but Mario Draghi did

something else that may go further towards sort of addressing how you're actually going to get that Greek economy back on track, and that is the

issue of debt relief. It's been very controversial, a lot of people have been saying if this deal is going to work and you're ever going to repair

Greece's economy, you need some sort of debt relief.

Have a listen to what the ECB chief said about that today just a little while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:10:30] MARIO DRAGHI, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK: It's uncontroversial that debt relief is necessary. And I think that nobody has ever disputed that.

The issue is what is the best form of debt relief within our framework, within our legal institutional framework?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAKE: Non-controversial and no one has disputed it, you certainly wouldn't have that opinion if you've been listening to some of the voices coming out

of northern Europe.

So this very interesting -- this means the ECB along with the IMF acknowledging that some sort of debt relief is needed, whether the Finns

and the Germans agree with that or go along with that, that's a whole other question, Becky. But a lot of people think that's the key to a lasting

turnaround for the Greek economy.

ANDERSON: Maggie, thank you.

We've been following this story for you all week, one of the worlds most brutal drug lords still on the loose after breaking out of a maximum

security prison in Mexico last weekend.

CNN's Nick Valencia retraces the route that Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman used to escape.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is where he kept his belongings.

(voice-over): For the first time, our cameras are allowed inside Cell No. 20.

(on camera): This is some remnants of what he left behind. The sink that he used to wash himself.

(voice-over): For nearly a year and a half, Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquim "El Chapo" Guzman was imprisoned behind these bars.

(on camera): That's the access point that El Chapo used to escape outside of this maximum-security prison. This wall providing a blind spot for that

24-hour surveillance camera.

(voice-over): Just five days ago, that camera captured one of Mexico's most notorious drug lords vanishing below the shower floor.

(on camera): Here we go.

(voice-over): A mile away from Mexico's maximum-security prison, I climbed into the tunnel's exit.

(on camera): There's another ladder leading down to another part, a deeper section of the tunnel.

(voice-over): It's hard to estimate just how long and how many people it took to create this remarkable feat of engineering.

(on camera): You see here there are electricity lines. It's very difficult to breathe down here. A lot of dirt, dust. This is here for the ventilation

system.

This motorcycle is on a track here. This is the bike that El Chapo used to ride out of the prison. It still has gas in it.

(voice-over): The track also affixed with carts, used to carry out thousands of pounds of soil.

(on camera): Go back and forth. You see that? There's buckets left behind. And look at this: left behind oxygen tanks, as well, in order for them to

survive down here.

It is a very tight space. I can't even stand up. I'm about 5- 10. I can't stand up all the way.

(voice-over): But the tunnel just right for Mexico's 5-foot-6- inch most wanted fugitive.

Nick Valencia, CNN, outside the Altiplano prison, Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Still to come tonight, can this man, Jordan Speith make history this weekend at the Open Championship? He has certainly started well.

We'll be live at St. Andrews for you this half hour.

First up, though, Gulf state jitters over the Iran nuclear deal raise the specter of a regional arms race at a time when sectarian splits are even

deeper than ever. We'll hear why the Arab world is divided over this and what happens next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:16:13] NETANYAHU: When Arabs, many Arabs, and Israelis agree I think it's worth paying attention. Our fate is most immediately affected by this

deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, the Arab world is divided over the Iran nuclear deal. Syria and Iraq have both welcomed it. Both states have benefited from

Iranian military support. But here in the Gulf, there are some who doubt it will stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb.

Nick Paton Walsh examines the reaction and the agreement's potential impact across this, the Middle East region.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It got underway with a key phone call nearly two years ago between President Obama and Rouhani.

But now the deal is done, it's Obama who has hit the phones comforting distraught Middle Eastern allies who see him warming to their nemesis,

Tehran.

In a mostly Sunni Gulf, he told the Saudis they were, quote, committed as ever to counter Iran's destabilizing activities in the region. He said

similar to the United Arab Emirates, adding the U.S. would, quote, support our partners in building their defense capabilities.

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu has been unconsolably critically of the deal, but was told it would not diminish our concerns regarding Iran's support

for terrorism and threats toward Israel.

His counterpart in Tehran didn't have to sell its allies in Damascus or Baghdad on the dropping of sanctions and unfrozen billions being a good

idea. Instead, the sales job was to hard liners who see the U.S. as the great Satan.

HASSAN ROUHANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It showed that at the technical level, we are the level of the world. We can talk. At the

legal level, we are the level of the world. At the political level, we are at the global levels. This, in and by itself, means victory.

WALSH: Here in the Middle East torn apart by Sunni-Shia sectarian bloodshed, undergoing some of the worst violence and change it's seen in

decades, this deal has always been about far more than the already massive issue of nuclear weapons. It risks tipping the scales.

America has had serious long-term alliances with Sunni powers here, but there is a perception that this deal marks them throwing their lot in with

the Shia side of the fight.

It isn't that yet, but the potential breathing room that it buys Tehran, has many fearing deeper change.

The deal was welcomed in Damascus and Baghdad where any released Iranian funds could help boost Shia militia.

In Iraq, there the awkward ground allies of U.S. war planes fighting ISIS.

In Lebanon, it could help Iranian backed and beleaguered Hezbollah, sworn enemies of Israel.

In Yemen, it could help the Shia Houthi rebels, also backed by Iran, who are fighting a government in exile supported by U.S. ally Saudi Arabia.

It's a deal that might take one issue off the table: a nuclear bomb for Iran, but oddly might just raise the temperature in this shattered region

even more.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, for more on the regional unease over this, let's bring in Shadi Hamid, who spent four years in Qatar with the Brookings Doha Center,

now in Washington with the Brookings Institution Center for Middle East policy. Thank you for joining us.

Qatar's foreign minister told CNN that every state had the right to a peaceful nuclear program, but he did acknowledge that a nuclear arms race

threatened Saudi Arabia should Iran ever make an atomic bomb is not out of the question.

I want you and our viewers to have a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHALID BIN MOHAMEED AL-ATTIYAH, QATAR FOREIGN MINISTER: If it goes out of control, and if god forbidden, it's become to a military use, then yes by

all means Saudi and other countries in the region have full rights to have their own military capability, too.

So, this is what we are trying to avoid by having a nuclear rally in the region by implementing and verification should be properly done to

implement this agreement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:20:25] ANDERSON: Well, at least four Arab states are pursuing their own nuclear power program. Were these talks the start of an irreversible

atomic push in this region, do you think?

SHADI HAMID, BROOKINGS INSTITUTE: Well, that would only be the case if the Gulf -- if Iran actually does acquire nuclear capability. And the whole

point of this deal -- I mean, I have major issues with the deal on other points, but objective here is to make it harder for Iran to get the bomb.

So, I mean the hope -- that's the hope.

Now whether or not that happens is a different story, but yes, if after some period of time Iran actually goes against its commitments according to

this deal, then certainly it would have a very negative effect on Gulf actors who would want to up the ante themselves.

ANDERSON: And there are Gulf leaders who feel the U.S. simply hasn't done enough to counter Iran's ambitions in the region. Does this deal embolden

those ambitions, do you think?

HAMID: Well, that's part of the problem with the debate that I think we're having is that this isn't really about Iran's nuclear program, it's about

how you feel about Iran's ambitions in the region. And this deal does not address that.

And I think the concern is -- and a concern that I share -- is that let's say there's 100 billion dollars in sanctions relief, even if Iran spends

the vast majority of it on bread and butter domestic issues, they could still spend a small amount of it on military activities abroad and

supporting their proxies. And even 3 billion dollars out of 100 billion would still be significant.

So I think that's the concern here that it actually empowers Iran to play a more aggressive role in the region. And I don't think we should be under

any illusions that Iran overnight is going to drastically change its behavior. I mean, it's made very clear its position, for example, in

supporting the brutal Assad regime.

ANDERSON: I just want to have a look at what Iranian state television has aired. The first new images of the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei since

the deal was announced. He's seen behind President Rouhani and other officials. Khamenei warned against trusting some of the world's powers

involved in those negotiations: those being U.S., France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and China.

And in a statement published on state-run press TV, he said, quote, "some of the six states are not trustworthy at all."

He followed that up with a tweet saying the nuclear deal was a milestone, but that the final text needs, quote, "scrutiny and challenging into the

defined legal process."

What do you make of Khamenei's statement. We're hearing an awful lot of what we make of the U.S. position P5+1. What about Khamenei's statement?

HAMID: Well, what Khamenei is trying to do is to reassure his conservative base. I mean, there's been grumbling from the so-called hard liners in

Iran. So at this point he may need to over compensate and even empower them in some ways so they feel like this deal isn't hurting them.

So that's going to be really the fascinating thing in the coming months is to see this internal tension between reformers like President Rouhani and

Foreign Minister Zarif and the conservatives who want to keep the fight, who want to keep the tensions with the U.S. and who like -- and who prefer

the more revolutionary aggressive posture in the region.

And we don't really know who is going to win out. But I think what this deal does do is that it at least gives the so-called reformists a chance, a

fighting chance. If there hadn't been a deal, then what would President Rouhani have been able to say to the Iranian people?

I mean, this has been one of -- this has been his defining issue over the past two years that he would increase the economic -- improve the economic

conditions in Iran. And this -- and the sanctions relief will allow that. If he couldn't deliver on that, then he would continue to lose popularity.

ANDERSON: And with that, we're going to leave it there.

We thank you very much indeed for your analysis today. Fascinating stuff. Out of Washington for you.

Live from Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World. Still ahead, we are going live to the impoverished Arab state that is the latest battlefield in the

Saudi-Iran proxy war. An update from Yemen coming up. We're going to hear from the United Nations coordinator there. Stand by for that.

And who can stop this man? Well, golfer Jordan Speith is gunning for his third straight major. I'm going to get you live to St. Andrews to see how

he fared in what is round one at The Open.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:26:59] ANDERSON: 26 minutes past 7:00 in the UAE. Thousands of miles away, it is historically known as the home of gold. And this weekend, St.

Andrews in Scotland could witness a piece of golfing history. If he wins the British open, as some people call it, 21-year-old Jordan Speith would

become only the second player in the modern era to win the first three legs of Golf's grand slam.

Let's go live to CNN's Alex Thomas who is at the St. Andrews course.

Can he do it, Alex?

ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: He can, but it will be very difficult, Becky. 156 players from 24 different countries from six

continents across the planet here. Yet all the focus of the golfing world on one 21-year-old American.

Let's see where Jordan Speith stands on the current leaderboard. Around three-quarters of the way through this opening day of four here at

Britain's 144th Open Championship, Dustin Johnson, another American, leads the way at seven under par. But just two strokes back, there is your man,

Speith. A terrific start, five under par. Not at all shabby.

Having the better of the conditions, teeing off fairly early in the morning and then finishing around mid-afternoon.

The wind has been getting up all day. We've had a bit of rain,too. And the weather forecast even worse for tomorrow.

Why talk about the weather? It's crucial around these centuries' old links, Becky. The land hasn't changed much, but it can be a very easy

course on a windless sunny day, but on what feels more like a winter's day than a summer's day here on the east coast of Scotland has proved very

crucial to the scoring.

13 players, all within two strokes of the lead. And more than half of them of former major champions, so there's some real quality in that

leaderboard. Mr. Speith has it all to do, Becky.

A word about Tiger Woods who wasn't on that leaderboard, he is dropped his world ranking to 241st in the world. And he's had an awful opening round

of 4 over par, a 76, his worst score as a professional here at the home of golf. His woes continue, Becky.

ANDERSON: All right, you're making me feel very homesick with that weather. But thank you.

Alex on the golf for you.

The latest world news headlines are just ahead, plus dramatic pictures from eastern Ukraine as fighters resort to a tactic dating back to the first

World War. You're watching Connect the World. Stay with us. Taking a very short break. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:32:06] ANDERSON: Welcome back. This is Connect the World with me Becky Anderson.

Look at the clock for you. At 31 minutes past 7:00 in Abu Dhabi.

The New York Times reports the Obama administration is offering to increase military aid to Israel to boost its security after the Iran nuclear deal.

U.S. officials tell CNN no specific package is yet on the table. They say Israel is rebuffing the offer at this stage.

The president of the European central bank Mario Draghi has announced that Greece will be given a 7.5 billion dollar bridging loan. The country will

use the money to make some urgent payments. It comes after Greek lawmakers, of course, passed a wave of austerity measures just on

Wednesday.

Large protests near Japan's parliament after the lower house approves new defense measures. They'd allow Japanese troops to fight abroad in a

limited role for the first time since World War II. Outside Japan, there is strong regional opposition from China and South Korea.

Now the upper house still needs to sign off on those measures.

In the United States, confessed Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof is making a court appearance in South Carolina. A judge set a trial date in

the case for July of next year. He is charged with killing nine people last month inside a church.

Well, Friday marks exactly one year since the crash of MH17 over eastern Ukraine, a disaster that killed 298 people, most of them from The

Netherlands.

Dutch investigators have released a new draft report that pins the blame on pro-Russian rebels who stand accused of shooting the plane down with a

missile.

CNN's Rene Marsh has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: CNN has learned investigators of Malaysia airlines flight MH17 say evidence points to pro-Russian rebels as the

culprit for bringing down the passenger plane. A draft report by the lead crash investigators, the Dutch Safety Board, also indicates Malaysia

Airlines did not do enough to keep the plane out of harm's way.

According to two sources with knowledge of the investigation, the report pinpoints the exact type of missile used -- a Russia BUQ surface-to-air

missile. The report also pinpoints where it was launched and who was in control of the territory where it came from.

PETER GOETZ, FRM. NTSB MANAGING DIRECTOR: The Dutch Safety Board is very respected worldwide. They are methodical. They are not political in any

way. And they have conducted this investigation in painstaking detail.

MARSH: The Boeing 777 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was at about 30,000 feet over the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine when it went down. U.S.

officials have said a radar system saw a surface-to-air missile turn on and track an aircraft right before MH17 was shot out of the sky.

Sources say the reports blames Malaysia Airlines for failing to avoid the conflict zone. U.S. airlines carriers make decisions about where to avoid

flying based on warnings other countries send to their pilots.

Dutch investigators say Malaysia Airlines did not review other country's warnings and was unaware other airlines were avoiding the area.

[11:35:33] GOETZ: It's sloppy. It's not good procedure. It's not -- it shows a certain lack of commitment to a culture of safety.

MARSH: Russian observers say the new details are a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's credibility. In the past, Putin has denied any

responsibility for the crash of MH17.

HEATHER CONLEY, CNETER FOR STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL AND INTERNAITONAL STUDIES: There's so much overwhelming evidence that, yes, the Kremlin can

continue to deny that it doesn't have involvement, but it just does not stand to any test.

MARSH: Well, the final report is expected this fall. We should point out we've reached out to Malaysia Airlines and Russian officials for reaction

to our reporting, but have not received a response.

The crash investigation is separate from the ongoing criminal investigation.

Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, the Russian President is pushing back against the notion of holding international tribunals for those accused of shooting down the

plane. The Kremlin says during a Thursday phone call with Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, Mr. Putin described the tribunal idea as, quote,

premature and counterproductive.

Well, Ukraine's military is reporting a sharp increase in attacks from pro- Russia rebels. Both sides frequently choose each other of violating a ceasefire signed several months ago. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh was based for

many years in the region. And last year spent a good part of his time reporting form there.

He looks at the modern-day trench warfare engulfing one Ukrainian city.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The village of Piersky (ph) next to Donetsk's ravaged airport 142 days into a ceasefire.

Ahead, he beckons, moments later they seek cover from separatist gunfire.

This is Ukraine's underfunded army holding off much better equipped rebels, backed by Russia. Basements of ordinary homes turned shelters, turned

homes again, in a place when often you only get to laugh when it's about fear.

Cameraman Nolan Peterson (ph) spent a week witnessing the bizarre spectacle of trench warfare in 21st Century Europe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open your mouths.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open your mouth and it will be too loud.

WALSH: A tiny village fought over inch by inch to get nearer the symbolic Donetsk airport.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open mouth.

WALSH: A regular army taking potshots at their adversary, then running to escape the inevitable reply.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, wear a vest.

WALSH: The truth is here this is much like many of the 141 days of ceasefire before it. A stalemate, which never grows stale.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): That's fine -- small stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ceasefire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When it's louder weapons, that's scary.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is small.

WALSH: Nights where the dark brings no calm, the question, ever louder, when does the war begin again in the open?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, I want to get our viewers now to a country and a conflict that we have followed very closely over the last couple of months. Yemen

has seen a fierce Saudi-led bombing campaign since the end of March. This Wednesday, it was reported that forces loyal to the president in exile, Mr.

Mansur Hadi, have retaken many districts in the city of Aden.

They are fighting anti-government Houthi rebels who overthrew the government in January.

Now this video obtained by CNN purportedly shows fighters loyal to the president celebrating retaking part of Aden.

Well, in another development, Reuters reports several of Hadi's ministers have now arrived in Aden.

For more, I'd like to bring in Paolo Lembo now who is resident coordinator of the United Nations there. He joins us from the capital of Sanaa.

With exiled ministers returning to Aden and rebels losing control of the International Airport there earlier this week, how decisive of a week has

this been in this conflict, sir?

PAOLO LEMBO, UNITED NATIONS: Well, first of all what you have mentioned is correct. In the last few days, in the last few hours in particular, we are

witnessed is Aden significant development. And forces loyal to President Hadi appear to have gained the control of some strategic areas of the city,

among which is the airport. And have information indicating that already there are -- there's a delegation from the government in exile that is in

Aden.

I would expect some significant development to occur in the coming hours.

And our concern at the United Nations is to make sure that this development offer us a window of opportunity to deliver aid to the desperately

suffering population of Aden. That's what we are in the process of discussing and negotiating right now.

ANDERSON: Yeah. I'm concerned about your increasing concern, sir. What are you eluding too, here? How bad could things get?

LEMBO: Well, first of all we have a number of ships that are in the harbor of Aden that are waiting to dock in Aden. We have a ship with 4,00 tons of

food, another ship with 3,000 tons of various supplies. We are just negotiating the authorization from the coalition authorities. And from

those that are in control of the port to allow us to do our job to dock this ship and then relieve the population.

If the airport then resume operations, which we are looking at as we speak here, we also are in the process of discussing an airlift operation in

order to bring in faster some supplies.

This morning, despite the hostility, despite the (inaudible) situation, we managed to bring in a convoy of 19 trucks of various United Nations

agencies with all the 400 tons of supply for the population.

So, we need this development to really offer us opportunity that has been extremely difficult in the last few days.

ANDERSON: Let me ask you this, this Aden offensive began after the collapse of a ceasefire that was supposed to have taken effect before

midnight on Friday to allow these aid deliveries. Are you telling me that you don't see any hope at this point of creating a ceasefire that can hold?

And please at this point let's start pointing some fingers. Who is to blame for this?

LEMBO: You ask me a difficult question. First of all, we are extremely disappointed that all the tremendous effort that the United Nations

organization -- the secretary-general personally has exerted to persuade the parties of the conflict at least to allow us one week of humanitarian

(inaudible), the last week of Ramadan to relieve the population from this immense tragedy.

Well, this has not been very successful, I'm afraid

Now if you look at the development on the ground now at what is happening in Aden in particular. I think we are going to have some challenge now.

Now, for us, on the UN is how we can really mount a largescale humanitarian operation in spite of the challenges that we should expect to continue to

be on the ground in Aden and elsewhere in the country.

That is going to be our challenge.

ANDERSON: All right. With that, we're going to leave it there. We thank you very much indeed for joining us out of Sanaa in Yemen.

I'm afraid with not a particularly positive message this evening.

Live from Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World with me Becky Anderson.

Coming up, we take you to downtown Amman, which comes to life during the holy month of Ramadan.

And before that, Donald Trump is soaring in the polls as he vies to become America's next president. We look at his rise in popularity and the

details he is disclosing about his finances. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:47:02] ANDERSON: We have always known American business mogul Donald Trump is rich. But just how much is he worth?

Well, his presidential campaign says more than $10 billion. The Republican candidate filed documents on his finances with U.S. election officials. In

true Trump fashion, his press office boasted the the property mogul is so rich that the election forms didn't have the proper boxes to check off for

a man of his wealth.

But Trump's net worth isn't the only number garnering attention. His position in the polls is also making headlines.

Despite some extremely controversial comments, Trump's popularity appears to be on the rise with Republicans. For more, here is CNN's Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's an unbelievable company. Far greater -- I built that. I built it.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new financial disclosure puts Donald Trump's net worth at more than $10 billion

and he made more than 362 million last year alone. Staggering figures released to prove --

TRUMP: Way ahead of schedule.

BASH: Trump told CNN he is serious about his presidential run, and it seems the more GOP voters see Donald Trump --

TRUMP: The silent majority is back and we're going to take the country back.

BASH: The more they like him. His favorability rating among Republicans, a key indicator for any candidate, more than doubled from just 23 percent to

57 percent in a new ABC News/"Washington Post" poll. Four in ten say they have an unfavorable view of the candidate. Still the latest numbers may

indicate that unlike flash in the pan GOP candidates who surged in 2012.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine, nine, nine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God bless you everyone!

BASH: Donald Trump may have some staying power.

TRUMP: They're killing us at the border and they're killing us in trade. They're killing us.

BASH: Trump's tough at times politically incorrect talk is mainly resonating with a certain segment of the Republican base. In a Suffolk/"USA

Today" poll which showed Trump leading the large GOP Pac, those who identify as very conservative view Trump favorably, 47 percent. Those self-

described very conservative voters are unlikely to support Jeb Bush in the GOP primary and he is now trying to use Trump as a foil to appeal to more

moderate Republicans.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Whether it is Donald Trump or Barack Obama, their rhetoric of divisiveness is wrong. A Republican will never win

by striking fear in people's hearts.

TRUMP: Well, how about Ted Cruz, and how about Ben Carson and how about others that say what Trump said is exactly right. You have to mention them,

too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: That was Dana Bash reporting. But the last line that was for Trump there as you can see -- what a surprise.

I want to bring in CNN's political commentator Peter Benart. He's also a contributing editor to Atlantic Media and has called Trump's appeal a sign

of an historic shift in political views. He joins us from our New York studio.

Explain what you mean by that, sir?

[11:50:13] PETER BENART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Donald Trump's problem is that the silent majority, and this is a phrase that was coined by

Richard Nixon in 1972, to refer to basically what voters who were resentful at African-Americans, at feminists and of at the anti-Vietnam war movement,

that that silent majority is now a minority in the United States.

It's still potent minority in the Republican Party, where there are a lot of older resentful white people who are angry at the cultural and

demographic change that is taking place in the United States, but it is now a minority among the population and also importantly it's now not -- those

views, the frankly racist views that Donald Trump has put forth are not even acceptable among the corporate elite in the United States. And that's

what you've seen in response to his comments about Mexican immigrants and all the corporations that are now refusing to do business with him.

ANDERSON: Trump's surge in popularity has quite frankly, sir, absolutely baffled some of his critics. And here is what one of them had to say in an

opinion piece here in the UAE in Gulf news today.

Quoting, "it may be that those cheering him on are attracted by his refreshing honesty, free of the usual political platitudes and baby-kissing

schmaltz, or their support could in protest of the array of lackluster candidates. but if they expressed their preference for Trump truthfully, I

can only conclude that a section of America's voting public are seriously shallow."

Would you agree with that assessment?

BENART: Well, I think there are a number of factors. First of all, Trump has gotten tremendous media attention. And so that translates into support

in the polls.

I don't think the support is particularly strong in the sense that once candidate -- Trump becomes worth going after, I think basically he's like a

pinata. I mean, there are so many contradictions and absurdities and scandals there. He doesn't have a strong organization in the states where

you would need to win.

But I think what he is tapping into is that he is saying more bluntly and aggressively what a lot of the other Republican candidates kind of say in

euphemism, which is a hostility to Mexican-American immigrants, illegal or not illegal, a resentment towards Barack Obama that sometimes borders on

racist. And I think and kind of a claim that you can take this -- America back to some kind of halcyon days before the cultural and demographic

changes represented by the 1960s.

That does have appeal to a certain group of the Republican base, but not to a majority of Americans.

ANDERSON: Right.

Very, very briefly could the media have had something to do with Trump's rise in popularity?

BENART: Yes. I think there's no question about it. I mean, Trump is a great story. He's -- you know, compared to Jeb Bush or some of these other

Republican candidates he's eminently quotable. And, you know, he's a soap opera walking around. Everything he says is kind of -- is hilarious and

repugnant at the same time. And so it's an easy story for the media to cover. And yes this helps him in the polls.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. Thank you.

I'm going to get you to some incredible images captured in space. NASA's New Horizon spacecraft is giving us a closer look at Pluto than we've ever

had before. And new pictures show that the dwarf planet has mountains made of ice.

You can check out some of the images on the website CNN.com. Find out what other surprises Pluto had to offer.

Live from Abu Dhabi, back on Earth, this is Connect the World with me Becky Anderson.

Coming up, Ramadan in Amman. I'm going to get you downtown in Jordan's capital where we were just a couple of weeks ago for the show -- to show

you how Iftar is celebrated there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:55:41] ANDERSON: All right, your Parting Shots tonight. We are going to take you to the Jordanian capital Amman. The downtown area of the city

comes to life during the holy month of Ramadan. And it has been captured by one photojournalist as we move towards the end of Ramadan.

Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I chose to do my Ramadan in Amman project in Amman's downtown, because in many ways the district becomes the life of the city

during Ramadan.

After Iftar, livelihood in Amman is (inaudible), people become bound with energy and noise fills the streets again.

Activities vary from family visits, gatherings, to simply having a walk or going to (inaudible) and open markets.

Amman becomes like a busy beehive from sunset to dawn.

People from different demographics and age groups come together and experience sameness and joy.

We're good people and the city life you experience Amman in its various forms.

(inaudible) have become another (inaudible) of Ramadan in Amman. And at night, it comes together on Facebook (ph) special atmosphere that only

Amman locals know well.

Hello, this is Amana Swedan (ph) and this was my Amman.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: That is one great city.

Will you be celebrating the end of Ramadan? Do let us know. You can always follow the stories that the team is working on throughout the day by

going to our Facebook page -- Facebook.com/CNN Connect. And you can always tweet me, you know that, @BeckyCNN.

I am Becky Anderson. And that was Connect the World. Thank you for watching. I'm out for a couple of weeks, though for those of you who have

been observing Ramadan, possibly a little early this year, Eid Mubarak (ph). Good night.

END