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Connect the World
Yemen Could See Half A Meter of Rain; Yazidi Civilians Prepare for Brutal Winter Atop Mount Sinjar; Michelle Payne Becomes First Woman Jockey To Win Melbourne Cup; One Square Meter: Tokyo's Microhousing Boom; American Satellite Detects Heat Flash During Russian Jet Crash; Prominent Iraqi Politician Ahmed Chalabi Dies at 71. Aired 11:00a-12:00p ET
Aired November 03, 2015 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: The search for answers in the Sinai desert, officials comb through Russian airline as one of the satellites detected a
midair explosion.
Well, the cause still very much unknown, though. We have the very latest from Egypt in just a moment for you.
Also ahead tonight, look at the legacy of the man who helped Washington make its case for invading Iraq as the region still reels from
the war he championed.
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE PAYNE, JOCKEY: It's such a chauvinistic sport. I know some of the owners were keen to keep me off, for instance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Strong words from a winning woman. We're going to tell you why her victory at the Melbourne Cup is so historic.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World with Becky Anderson.
ANDERSON: Very good evening. It's just after 8:00 here in the evening. We are getting more information about what may have caused a
Russian passenger plane to plummet into Egypt's Sinai peninsula killing all 224 people on board.
There are a number of theories about what went terribly wrong with few clear answers. But now the most significant clues so far, a U.S. official
tells CNN an American military satellite detected a heat flash from the plane in midair.
Intelligence analysts are ruling out a missile strike, but they are not excluding the possibility that a bomb, or some sort of catastrophic
technical malfunction occurred.
And now aviation experts examining the cockpit voice recorder have heard what are described as, quote, uncharacteristic sounds right before
the plane disappeared.
(inaudible) we are covering this story for you from Russia and from Egypt this hour. CNN's Ian Lee is on the ground in Cairo, Matthew is
monitoring developments from St. Petersburg.
Ian, let me start with you. What is the latest from where you are first?
IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we had just learned in the past hour or so about that midair explosion. Initially they
were trying to figure out analysts -- military and intelligence analysts -- whether it
happened on the air and ground. We now know it happened in the air, which makes it makes it one of really two things -- either the engine had a
mechanical failure which caused it to explode and that's what happened, or there could have been a bomb
planted on board. We really don't know at this time.
But with the bomb, it could have been then planted by the ISIS states in the Sinai Peninsula. This is a group that has been waging a deadly
insurgency since the 2011 revolution. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: It may be ISIS's least known affiliate, but the terror group Sinai Branch is deadly and sophisticated. Here the aftermath of an attack
against an army checkpoint in broad daylight.
In all, the group has killed hundreds in roadside bombings, drive by shootings and suicide attacks. Those survivors captured are brutally
executed, including an oilfield worker beheaded in August.
ISIS in Egypt rose from the chaos of the Arab Spring and unleashed their wave of violence in 2013, not just in Egypt's resistant Sinai region,
but across the country. The military and police carry out operations to hunt the
militants down.
H.A. HELLYER, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: It's been in operation for
two years, and I don't think anybody, including within the Egyptian military, thinks that they are suddenly going to disappear.
LEE: It was late last year the terror group with numbers estimated in the low hundreds, pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.
Their weapons, mainly coming from Libya, another country rocked by instability and an ISIS presence.
We've seen them target convoys with remote detonated bombs while suicide bombers hit outposts and military bases. The two most
sophisticated weapons believed to be in their arsenal include Russian made Hornet anti-tank missiles used in targeting tanks and a boats in the
Mediterranean. And shoulder launched surface-to-air missiles seen here taking down an Egyptian helicopter.
Analysts say what they don't possess are sophisticated missiles to take down a jet traveling over 30,000 feet like the Russian Metrojet flight
9268 that crashed in the Sinai Peninsula killing 224 people on board.
HELLYER: Assuming ISIS have already claimed responsibility, that doesn't necessarily mean anything, because indeed it simply could be part
of psychological warfare.
LEE: Indeed, both Egyptian and Russian officials have downplayed ISIS's claim that they took done the jet saying it's more likely mechanical
failure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[11:05:19] LEE: And Becky, we really at this hour don't know what brought down that jet. And Egyptian officials have urged caution about
speculation saying let this investigation go through its course and let the information from those black boxes be revealed before the Egyptian officials give their
conclusion to this investigation -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Ian Lee is in Cairo.
Let's get to the Kremlin -- or to Moscow at least. The Kremlin rejecting any connection between the plane crash and the bombing campaign
its air force is conducting in Syria, at least. Matthew is live for you in St. Petersburg.
What are you hearing there, Matthew?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNAITONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, exactly that line from the Kremlin, the spokesperson for Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Pescov
(ph) briefing journalists this morning here in Russia saying that there is no connection between the Russian campaign in Syria and the crash that
caused the loss of 224 lives on board that Metrojet.
But the fact is the investigation, we expect, will determine whether there is, indeed, a link between that catastrophe and the -- terrorism or
whether it's mechanical failure.
Certainly there have been some interesting reports come out of over the course of the past several hours, one of them from Interfax, which is a
privately owned news agency here in Russia, but it's very close to the Kremlin quoting an
unnamed source in Cairo referring to the contents of the flight data recorder saying it was this uncharacteristic sound in the moments before
the plane was lost.
It was an unexpected and nonstandard emergency it seems according to that source, which was instantaneous and would account for why the pilots
of the plane were not able to send an alarm signal.
And so that sort of tends to push us towards the idea that this was some kind of catastrophic failing, either a bomb or an enormous mechanical
failure as well.
But again, until the investigators start releasing some more detail from those flight data recorders, we're just not going to be able to reach
a conclusion one way or the other, Becky.
ANDERSON: Matthew is in St. Petersburg in Russia for you this evening, Ian in Cairo in Egypt across the story on both ends. Thank you,
guys.
Airport security is at the center of a congressional hearing taking place right now in the United States. These are live pictures of that
hearing.
A new report says U.S. Transportation and Security Administration hasn't adequately tested the effectiveness of its newest security measures.
That report coming from the Government and Accountability Office.
Well, representing from the TSA, GAO and Homeland Security are testifying right now on the report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROTH, HOMELAND SECURITY INSPECTOR GENERAL: The tests were conducted by
our auditors without any specialized knowledge or training and the test results
were disappointing and troubling.
We ran multiple tests using different concealment methods at eight different airports with different sizes, including large category X
airports across the country and tested airports who were using private screeners. The results were consistent across every airport.
Our testing was designed to test checkpoint operations in real world conditions. The failure included technology, TSA procedures and human
errors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And more from that hearing as we get it.
Well, the fate of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has long divided
the international community. But the U.S. and other powers calling for him to
step down and Iran and Russia supporting him.
Well, early on Tuesday, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said, and I quote, "keeping Assad in power is not a fundamental issue for
Moscow."
Well, Moscow insists this is not a new position.
CNN senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir is in northern Iraq for us.
Moscow insisting there's nothing new in their position with regard to the Syrian president, but we should be clear, Nima, that they have not used
the language, it's not a fundamental issue if Assad stays in power, before.
The U.S. and other opposition sponsors, including regional players like Qatar and Saudi insisting Mr. Assad can have no part in Syria's
political future.
How significant would it be if this were the beginning of the end of Russia's support for him?
ELBAGIR: Well, it would be hugely significant. Russia has been a major backer. In September, they began airstrikes in theory, as Russia
puts it, targeting ISIS positions.
But in practice, mainly targeting Syrian opposition positions, the Russian government says that this is broadly in line with their position
throughout, which is that only elections, only the Syrian people can decide the fate of Syria. But we've never heard it stated quite so boldly before,
Becky, as you said that saying this is no longer a fundamental -- this is not a fundamental issue for them.
And the timing is also giving pause for thought. There are a lot of people -- this comes after the deputy foreign minister, the Russian deputy
foreign minister announced that next month they're hoping to host members of the Syrian opposition in talks with the Syrian government.
So, it does feel indeed for many of those that we've been speaking to, our sources in the diplomatic community, as if perhaps Russia is creating a
little bit of wiggle room.
And there is also a broader sense that both Iran and Russia, another major backer of President Assad, had hoped that this would be in a very
different place by this point. That indeed at least the situation in Aleppo would have been finally resolved for -- in al-Assad's -- to al-
Assad's benefit.
But there is a broader sense that this has actually gone on for quite a while. And we're looking at a situation that is at an impasse in terms
of resolving it. So, perhaps Russia is trying to look at it in an alternate way, into finally unknotting the situation in this region, Becky.
ANDERSON: Fascinating.
Meantime across the border from where you are, people continue to die, sadly.
Thank you, Nima.
Later on the show, more from Nima on a desperate situation in the mountains of Iraq. We'll see how families who escaped the wrath of ISIS
are now facing a much different threat.
Plus get stuffed, that was one of the first things this jockey said to some horse racing fans after she made racing history in Australia. We'll
explain why.
That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, an extremely rare sight in Yemen's arid landscape. Heavy flooding with Cyclone Chapala roaring ashore with hurricane force
winds early on Tuesday making landfall near the port of al-Moktala (ph), which is an al Qaeda stronghold.
The first tropical storm on record to hit Yemen is expected to dump several years worth of rain in just one day, all that water flooding such
dry mountainous terrain, clearly bringing a serious threat of landslides to a place which is
already struggling with war.
Other parts of the Middle East bracing for brutally cold temperatures as winter approaches. Yazidi families on Iraq's Mount Sinjar are among
those especially at risk with little to shelter them from the deep freezes.
Nima Elbagir reports, they have survived attacks by ISIS but now face another
potentially deadly threat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[11:15:19] NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mount Sinjar, these desolate slopes claimed the lives of dozens of children last
year. This year, the Yazidis are bracing themselves for the worst.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The mountain is so cold. You can see there is nothing up here.
ELBAGIR: Fohaz (ph) is 30. She and her nine daughters escaped the ISIS onslaught last year. This year, she says, she worries it will be the
mountain winter that kills them.
Fohaz (ph) just telling me that 17 of them live that this tiny tarpaulin lined tent. And everything that you see here, the clothing that
they're wearing, the pots, the pans, this is it. This is all that they have in the world. And they are facing another incredibly brutal up here
on the mountain.
Smoke plumes rise over Sinjar, coalition air strikes intensifying as preparations begin for the push to retake the town.
Sinjar, and the mountain that looms over it, are at the heart of the homeland of the Yazidi minority. In the mountain's foothills, the Yazidi
men are training for the fight ahead.
The mountain shelters, their holiest shrine, the shrine of the founder Shoaf el-Dine (ph). It also falls along a crucial ISIS supply route,
linking ISIS strongholds of Iraq and Syria.
Last year, the world watched as thousands of Yazidis were massacred during the ISIS push for Sinjar. Hundreds of Yazidi girls are still held
by ISIS forces as slaves.
Boha (ph) believes her sister and two teenage nieces are among the captives. Every moment in her day, no matter the task, she told us is
spent thinking about them.
As the offensive draws nearer, she worries they're still in the town below.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Where are they? Will they take them even further away? Will they be caught in the fighting?
ELBAGIR: Below, the Yazidi soldiers are standing guard. Many of the fighters have families up on the mountain slopes above.
Today, a local folk singer has come to rally them on. But they know too well what they're fighting for: their very existence.
Ill-equipped and poorly supplied, the force commander tells us they need all
the help they can get.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We need traditional support. We need heavy weaponry, especially now.
We stood against ISIS with nothing but machine guns. We withstood a huge enemy, and it's too strong. We need your help.
ELBAGIR: For now, the Yazidis are clinging on, desperate to stay within sight of their abandoned homes.
Zero hour is approaching. The Yazidis are getting ready. Everyone hopes
this will finally be over and soon. Even as they prepare themselves for what awaits them in the town below.
Nima Elbagir, CNN, Mount Sinjar, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Ivan Watson says ISIS despises Yazidis more than any
religious group and he tells us why in what is an in-depth report that you can find online, find out more about Yazidis and their beliefs and the
terrible crimes is commits against them. You can find it on the digital site cnn.com.
You're watching Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson. We are live out of Abu Dhabi for you. At 18 minutes past 8:00. We're going to take a
very short break.
Coming up, you may have seen her incredible reporting from Syria, no CNN's Clarissa Ward tells us how she managed to get in the country and
navigate the dangerous conditions.
First up, though, One Square Meter taking us to a city tonight where space is at a premium. Could microhomes be the solution? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[11:22:13] JOHN DEFTERIOS, EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Tokyo is one of the most
densely populated places in the world, more than 13 million work and commute in the Japanese capital, that's 6,000 per square kilometer. In
this land of high rises and housing blocks, finding space to build your own home is a challenge.
For IT engineer Monoru Ota (ph), a microhouse was the answer.
Ota's (ph) dream house is a contemporary concrete cubicle built on a tiny patch of 26 square meters, roughly two parking spaces. This tiny
house is packed with creative surprises.
MONORU OTA, IT ENGINEER (through translator): It's not that I wanted to make a small house from the beginning, I wanted to live in the city
center but our budget was limited so it's ended up as this small house.
But there are lots of tricks so I don't feel the space is limited.
DEFTERIOS: The completely open layout bathroom next to the entrance gives a spacious feel. Just close the curtain and turn on music for
privacy.
This house has no doors or walls. Floors are bare concrete with gaps on both sides, allowing natural light from the sky window to reach each of
the three floors.
To save space for shoe storage, The 43-year-old brings them up and down from the top floor storage loft every day.
Ota and his wife Aki (ph) embrace the minimalist lifestyle.
OTA (through translator): After living here I don't need a big house. I have everything I need. What would I do in a big house? I can't
imagine.
DEFTERIOS: One Square Meter in Tokyo costs an average of $10,000 in 2015, up 5.8 percent from the previous year. The price can easily jump two
to four times depending on the area.
Sanyang Yamagichi (ph) has a small plot of land in central Tokyo. She's building a 30 square meter house to reside with her husband.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I decide to make a house here, of which my husband didn't like. He thought, this is too small lot for to build a
house. But I insisted.
DEFTERIOS: Architect Denzo Sugiura (ph) says he has designed 137 microhomes in the past 20 years. This is 138.
The veteran architect says women are often the driving force behind Japan's surging number of microhouses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): As more women have jobs, they prefer to live closer to their office. They have begun to bring their
family homes closer to the city center.
DEFTERIOS: Yamagichi wants her living room, dining space and kitchen on the sunny second floor. The basement will be a combined bedroom and
music room. Multi-purpose spaces are key.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is very small and tiny but I feel comfortable and enough for me.
DEFTERIOS: For Yamagichi, Ota and a growing number of Japanese microhome owners, less really is more.
John Defterios, One Square Meter.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Welcome back.
At just before half past 8:00 here in the UAE, you're watching Connect the World with me Becky Anderson. The top stories for you this hour.
A U.S. official has told CNN that a satellite detected a heat flash from a Metrojet flight 9268 before the plane crashed in Egypt's Sinai
peninsula on Saturday. Meanwhile, an Egyptian source tells Russia's Interfax news agency that, quote, uncharacteristic sounds were heard on the
cockpit voice recorder just before the plane disappeared.
A former Uber driver has been sentenced to life in prison in India for raping a woman who requested a ride on the car shaping app. The incident
in New Delhi last December sparked protests and led to Uber cars being taken off the
road as part of a temporary ban.
Iraq politician Ahmed Chalabi has died at 71. He was a strong advocate for the 2003 U.S. invasion against Saddam Hussein and supplied intelligence
to U.S. about Iraq''s supposed WMD program. That intelligence was later discredited. Iraq state television says Chalabi died of a heart attack.
The UN says more than 218,000 migrants crossed into Europe by sea in just the last month. That is a monthly record and is roughly the same
number that crossed in the whole of 2014.
Meanwhile, around 28,000 crossed into Greece from Friday to Sunday according to the International Organization for Migration.
Many of those refugees were driven to Europe by the war raging in Syria. And new footage has emerged that appears to underscore the
brutality of the conflict. Human rights workers and opposition activists say rebels using are hostages as human shields. They say they are putting
captured soldiers and civilians in cages, driving them around the Damascus suburbs to guard against indiscriminate government airstrikes. The rebels
belong to the hardline Daesh al-Islam (ph) faction not backed by the United States.
Well, it's very difficult to get inside Syria and to report on what is happening there firsthand for you. But CNN's Clarissa Ward recently
visited the front lines in Kurdish held territory. You may remember her reportage last week.
She shows us now exactly she manages what was a very dangerous journey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[11:31:28] CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Our journey into Syria began on the banks of the Tigris River that separates the Iraqi
Kurds from the Syrian Kurds.
We're here in Iraq and Syria is just over there across the water. But this entire area is controlled by Kurdish forces. Now we need to get all of
our gear onto one of these boats to get over to Syria.
Families weighed down with belongings cross in both directions. It was a very short ride. And then with a bump, we were in Syria.
So we've now arrived in Syria, or Rojava, as the Kurdish people who live in this area call this region. And we're now making our way along the
Turkish border driving through the countryside on some pretty bumpy roads to meet up with our guides from the YPG.
These rickety mini buses are how most Syrian Kurds get around, listening to patriotic songs cheering on the YPG fighters. We were
accompanied by a female fighter who was just 18 years old.
The Kurdish parts of Syria have a very different feel to the rest of the country. Many women here are uncovered and the security situation is
relatively calm in towns along the Turkish border.
But the famous Syrian hospitality is very much in evidence here. Even when we visited fighters on the front lines, we were invited to share their
lunch. On this day goat and bread was on the menu. You simply can't refuse.
The highlight, though, was an impromptu dance performance by our host as we prepared to leave. Months of heavy fighting has not quashed their
spirit.
The days are long, hot and very dusty, and you're never quite sure where you're going to end up.
Since we've been in Syria we've been sleeping in a different place every night, but this is our accommodation for the night. You can see the
team here. Everyone's getting ready for bed. And it's certainly not luxurious, but you don't have hotels, really, in this area.
We've been relying on the kindness of strangers. And every night people have been opening up their homes to us, so we're very grateful. And
honestly, when you're in Syria, anywhere with a roof over your head and a nice mattress is perfectly comfortable for us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Clarissa Ward reporting for your.
Well, we move from Syria to neighboring Iraq now. And the death of one man who played a pivotal role in the lead up to the U.S. invasion of
Iraq in 2003, a conflict that continues to be felt throughout this region.
Controversial Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi died Tuesday at the age of 71.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: The U.S. invasion of Iraq, America's bloodiest conflict since Vietnam, a war whose legacy continues to tear the Middle East apart.
Now one of the biggest advocates of the U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein is dead.
AHMED CHALABI, IRAQI: I believe the U.S. will find Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. They've certainly found the software, we've been talking
to many of the scientists who were involved in these programs and they confirm the manufacture of those weapons.
ANDERSON: Ahmed Chalabi's political career gained momentum in 1992 when he founded Iraqi National Congress, which brought together groups
opposed to Saddam's rule.
In the years that followed, the CIA reportedly gave them over $100 million to try and topple the Iraqi leader, but it was in the run-up to the
2003 invasion that Chalabi truly rose to prominence. Information he fed to U.S. officials supported the Bush administration's allegations that Saddam
had weapons of mass destruction.
[11:35:32] GEORGE W. BUSH, 43rd PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: there's a great threat in Iraq. there just is. This is a man who has
gassed his own people, used weapons of mass destruction on his own citizens, imagine what his intentions will be about a country that loves
freedom like we do.
ANDERSON: But his claims proved to be bogus. And while he denied ever supplying false intelligence, the ultimate cost of the war was
enormous: hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have lost their lives, millions more displaced. The country remains deeply divided along sectarian lines
allowing radical groups like ISIS to emerge as major players.
His reputation was further tarnished by his alleged ties to Iran. Yet despite his role in the leadup to the war, Chalabi remained a key figure in
post-war Iraqi politics serving briefly as deputy prime minister and oil minister.
He was even talked about as a serious contender to succeed Nouri al Maliki in 2014. His death at the age of 71 ends a career that will forever
be overshadowed by the 2003 U.S.-led war and its aftermath. But for Chalabi himself, who deemed the invasion a success, the goal of
overthrowing Saddam Hussein seemed to justify the means.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, for more on the life and legacy of Ahmed Chalabi, I'm joined by Peter Galbraith, a former U.S. ambassador, the author of The End
of Iraq and a friend of Chalabi's having known him for decades.
Thank you for joining us, sir.
Most Americans will remember him as the man who duped the U.S. into invading Iraq. Is that how you will remember your friend Ahmed Chalabi?
PETER GALBRAITH, FRM. U.S. AMBASSADOR: No.
First, there's no doubt in my mind that had Ahmed Chalabi had not lived, the United States would not have invade Iraq in 2003. But I don't
fault him for the invasion. He was one of the smartest people I've ever met. And he figured
out in the 1980s that the road to Baghdad went through Washington. He was determined to get rid of Saddam Hussein who ran, what he thought, and what
was truly a murderous regime so he spent a lot of time cultivating people in Washington -- liberals and then the neoconservatives.
And when they came to power under George Bush's administration, he got the Americans -- he persuaded the Americans that invading Iraq would be
easy, Iraq would pull together, that it would be a stable country. That it could be a model democracy and they bought it.
ANDERSON: Yeah. And he was wrong, of course, and so were they.
In 2004 you defended your friend saying he understood how Washington worked as you've just pointed out and he used that knowledge to advance his
goals.
You told The New Yorker at the time it's not his fault that his strategies succeeded, it's not his fault that the Bush administration
believed everything he said. Should they have? Of course not. They should have looked critically. He's not a liar. He believed information
he was purveying and part was valuable. But his goal was to get the U.S. to invade Iraq.
Sir, knowing what we now know and given the state of Iraq and neighboring Syria, have you changed your opinion?
GALBRAITH: No. He was a patriotic Iraqi. He had no resources. He didn't have much political support in Iraq. He had no military and he got
the United States, the most powerful country in the world, to loan him our army. I don't fault him for having done that. I fault the people who took
everything he said as the gospel truth.
But I can tell you if the United States had ever gotten a foreign country to spend $2 trillion to accomplish our objectives, we would say
that was a great covert action or great success. But let's put the responsibility for this fiasco where it belongs, it is on the Americans who
launched the war without planning and without considering what would happen afterwards.
And a final point, though. I would argue that Iraq actually is better off. After all, 80 percent of the people of Iraq are either Kurds are
Shiites. The Shiites were repressed for the entire history of Iraq. They now run the country. The Kurds always wanted independence and that's
basically what they now have.
ANDERSON: With respect, sir, to the hundreds of thousands who have lost their lives and the millions displaced, I'm not sure they agree Iraq
is a better place.
I put this to you, despite the fact you say you don't blame him, you blame those who took his advice, in the end did his efforts and those who
supported the invasion that he had effectively -- he was the architect of - - contribute to the rise of is?
GALBRAITH: Absolutely.
There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and there was no al Qaeda. And these were the things that justified the war.
But by going into Iraq, United States made Iraq the prime base for al Qaeda type or more radical Islamic terrorists than al Qaeda. And of course
let's not forget about Iran. George Bush when he -- in justifying the war said he spoke of an alliance axis of evil between Iraq and Iran. But of
course at that time they were bitter enemies. Today, Iran has no closer ally than Iraq. And
that's, though, result again not of Chalabi but of gullible American officials who simply
accepted what he said and really didn't care to do the due diligence about what might happen.
We are living with the catastrophic consequences of the American decisions.
ANDERSON: How close was he to the Iranians?
GALBRAITH: Again, Ahmed was a skilled political leader. He was close to the Americans. The Iranians were very important factors in supporting
the Iraqi opposition for decades before the 2003 war and because Iraq became
dominated by the Shiite religious parties that Iran had supported, they are the most important power in Iraq today.
Yes, he was very, very close to them.
ANDERSON: Did the fact that he emerged as a potential replacement for al Maliki as late as 2014 reveal, as one writer put it recently, the near
total lack of good U.S. policy options in Iraq?
GALBRAITH: Not at all.
I think you have to think, here's a man who was smart enough to get the United States to lend him its army, to spend $2 trillion to accomplish
his objectives. Somebody that smart, that capable actually might have been quite a good prime minister of Iraq. But he didn't end up getting that
chance.
In fact, what Chalabi had advocated in 2003 was for the United States to come in and then quickly to get out to turn things over to an interim
Iraqi government, which -- of which he probably -- no, that isn't what happened. The problem is that the Bush administration went in and they
decided that they themselves would run Iraq. They didn't do any preparation. They ran it with a team of incompetents. They knew nothing
about the country.
It might have not worked out very well, but it certainly would have worked out better than what actually happened.
ANDERSON: Peter, thank you. Peter Galbraith with us this evening.
Live from Abu Dhabi this Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson. Coming up, by 100 to 1 shot this jockey beat the odds of the Melbourne Cup
and made racing history. But she wasn't entirely happy afterwards. Why? That's coming up.
First up, though, there may be a new front-runner in the race for U.S. president. Which candidate is now topping Donald Trump in some of the
latest polls.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:46:59] ANDERSON: Right, some pictures out of New York for you with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump having a book signing.
This latest public appearance comes as Trump's lead in the presidential contention race appears to be slipping away.
For the second time in two weeks rival Ben Carson has topped Trump in a national poll, a latest from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal shows
Carson leading trump 29-23 percent there followed by Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Jeb
Bush.
Now, he poll said they likely Republican primary voters both before and
after last week's debate.
Meanwhile there were several complaints from the candidates over the questions they were asked at last week's CNBC debate. President Barack
Obama also weighing in on that debate joking about those complaints.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every one of these candidates
say Obama is weak. You know, Putin is kicking sand in his face. When I talk to Putin, he's going to straighten out. It turns out they can't
handle a bunch of CNBC moderators. If you can't handle those guys, you know, then I don't think the
Chinese and Russians are going to be too worried about you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Mr. Obama enjoying himself there at a Democratic fundraising event on Monday night.
Live from Abu Dhabi at 48 minutes past 8:00 here on a very balmy evening.
You're watching Connect the World with Becky Anderson. Coming up amid the partying at the Melbourne Cup there is a first in more than 150 years.
Plus, what are these two planning? Maybe it's how to clinch victory in the world's first ever comedy wildlife awards where they are finalists. We're
going to show you some of the other entries up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:51:18] ANDERSON: Well, they call the Melbourne Cup the race that stops the nation. But as you can see here, it seems to get the partying
started in Australia, too.
Thousands of revelers went to Flemington race course to take part in festivities on Tuesday. And one person had more reason to celebrate than
anybody else, the Australian jockey Michelle Payne. She rode into the history books beating 100 to 1 odds to become the first ever to win women
to win $6.2 million cup all while blasting what she calls chauvinism in the support.
CNN World Sport's Christina Macfarlane takes a look at how she took the lead.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It's known as a race that stops a nation. But this year one rider made the world sit up and
take notice. Competing against some of the greatest horses and riders in one of the richest races in the world, Michelle Payne pushed ahead of the
field riding the 100 to 1 shot Prince of Penzance to cross the line as the first female jockey to win the race in its 155 year history.
Afterwards, Payne praised her trainer David Weir for standing by her when others questioned her ability to compete in such a competitive sport.
PAYNE: I can't believe we've done it. And to think that David Weir has given me a go in such a chauvinistic sport. I know some of the owners
were keen to keep me out, for instance. John Richards and Darren (inaudible) really stuck with me. I put in all the effort I could, I
galloped every gallop he had and did everything I could to stay on him because I thought he had what it took to run a race in the Melbourne Cup.
And I just can't say how grateful I am to them. And I just want to say to everyone else can get stuffed because they think women aren't strong
enough. But we just beat the world.
MACFARLANE: Payne is only the fourth female jockey to compete at the Melbourne Cup since 2007 and her words have ignited a debate over whether
the racing industry is doing enough to encourage female participation.
Racing UK's Oli Bell admits it's harder for women to get ahead.
OLI BELL, RACING UK: Michelle Payne has obviously dealt with, given her comments today, elements of chauvinism and even getting on this ride to
horse to win. There were, obviously, people that were fighting other corners.
But with perform like Michelle's today, with Haley's achievements throughout her career, with the girls winning the (inaudible) Cup, winning
Breeders' Cup races, I think that if there are still blocks of institutional chauvinism
that do exist in our sport, then with each of these performances hopefully that the barriers are being knocked down, and rightly so.
MACFARLANE: Australia's greatest race is easily the biggest win of Payne's career who has risen through the racing ranks since childhood and
is now widely regarded as one of the best and toughest riders in her state of Victoria in Australia.
At the age 30, she's carved out a solid career. The youngest of 10 children, she won her first race at the age of 15 on a horse trained by her
father. In 2004 she fell heavily during a race in Melbourne, fracturing her skull and bruising her brain but vowing to continue racing.
Her breakthrough year came with a win in the Group One race, the (inaudible) handicap and in the same year, she took part in the Melbourne
Cup for the first time finishing 16th in a field of 23.
Almost 100 years to the day that the first female owner won the Melbourne Cup Payne's historic breakthrough has served as a timely reminder
that women can and will compete on a level playing field with the best in the world.
Christina Macfarlane for CNN's Winning Post.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[11:55:08] ANDRESON: Well, we're used to seeing animals looking majestic in their natural habitats perfectly captured on film for things
like nature documentaries. In tonight's Parting Shots, we want to show you that's not always the case with some of the finalists from the world's
first ever comedy wildlife awards.
This first one may be the silliest thing you see all day. Perhaps you just heard the one about the seafood diet.
Plus John Travolta move over, this lemur seems to like to get groovy Saturday Night Fever style.
And we wonder what this little guy is looking for. Perhaps he's keeping an eye on his stash of food for the winter.
His friend seems to have found some. It looks like he got stuck raiding the bird feeder.
Don't worry, little fellow, you'll regret getting out of bed some days.
And remember if anyone asks you you don't see anything over here, but it makes you wonder who that moose is hiding from in the forest.
Well, maybe it's this gorilla. Perhaps we have more in common with nature than we think.
Got any shots to rival these, send them our way. We always want to hear from you, of course.
You can get in contact and follow the stories that we are working on throughout the day. The team is on Facebook throughout the day so do check
it out. Facebook.com/cnnconnect.
And get in touch and tweet me @Beckycnn. That is @Beckycnn.
I'm Becky Anderson that was Connect the World from the team here and those working with us around the world, thank you for watching. CNN
continues after this short break.
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