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Brussels on Lockdown; Paris Returning to Normalcy After Attacks; What is Middle Eastern ISIS Strategy Going Forward?; Egypt, Argentina Vote. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired November 22, 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: Brussels on high alert as authorities warn of a possible imminent threat to Belgium's capital, and soldiers and heavily

armed police, now a strong presence in the city's normally bustling streets. We'll get an update from Brussels for you up next.

Also ahead this hour, more than a week after attacks rocked Paris, one of the suspects is still at large. And the French are stepping up their fight

against ISIS, moving an aircraft carrier within striking distance of Syria. We'll have a live report from France in a moment.

Plus, this region reacts to the attacks. And what does increased military action in Syria mean for the Middle East? That is all coming up.

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

ANDERSON: A very good evening to you. It's 8:00 here in the UAE. Straight to Europe this hour, and the tense situation, more than a week

after the Paris attacks. The city of Brussels is on edge for a second day after Belgian authorities raised the terror alert to its highest level.

The prime minister says there is reason to suspect several Paris style attacks are being planned across the city.

People have been told to avoid crowds and the metro service has been suspended throughout Sunday.

Well, despite the warnings, people are venturing out in some areas of Brussels. Our Drew Griffin has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The threat level, level four, continues here in Brussels, now into its second day and it doesn't appear to be

easing. It was just announced that the metro will remain closed the rest of this day, Sunday, as authorities meet late this afternoon to determine

whether or not they can lift all of the restrictions they have placed on life here in Brussels.

This all developed Friday night when the prime minister announced a new serious and imminent threat, something akin to what happened in Paris, that

had him ask for the closing down of all concerts, restaurants, bars, anywhere where people

gather.

All of this is taking place at the same time, that Belgium officials are still trying to track down that eighth elusive attacker, Saleh Abdelsalam

who is from Belgium.

Threat level continues here, people going on with their lives as best they can while keeping a wary eye on anything that looks suspicious.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Brussels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: All right, meanwhile, in Paris, it is almost ten days since coordinated attacks killed 130 people. Life slowly returning to normal

amid intensified security and a three-month state of emergency.

CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in the French capital for you. How would you describe the atmosphere this hour, Nic?

All right, let me see whether we can reestablish communications with Nic Robertson.

Let me give it another go. Nic, can you hear me? All right, he isn't -- we don't have communications with him at the moment. We'll get back to

Paris. We're going to take a wider look, though, at the Paris attacks in this hour and how they are impacting the world, including increased

security in that French capital. What authorities are doing to ease fears.

Further abroad, France has promised to come down on ISIS. We'll be looking at what more military engagement means for the Middle East.

And the world of sport has also been affected. One of the biggest games in football, Real Madrid versus Barcelona played out amid unprecedented

security. All that is still ahead here on CNN.

Well, the death toll from Friday's attack on a popular hotel in Mali now stands at 22, according to the United Nations. Two Islamist militant

groups claimed responsibility for the attack and now investigators believe they may know what made that particular location a target.

CNN's David McKenzie has more from outside the Raddison Blu hotel in Bamako.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: ...sources on the ground here is that the presumed motive of this al Qaeda-linked group and one

other group that's claimed responsibility of this attack is in fact because of the local situation here in Mali, and you may see a UN vehicle passing

past me. They have investigators on the scene here trying to get forensic evidence together.

There were peace talks going on here during the time of this attack. And it seems attackers were trying to derail the peace talks here in this

country.

Mali has been cut in two in recent years because of Isalmic jihadists and others pushing in trying to take the capital, similar to the situation of

ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

But it does seem that this attack on western interests was to try to derail a local local issue here, though, by getting attention in attacking a

western frequented hotel, they certainly were able to kind of put their agenda on the map.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, that was our David McKenzie reporting from Mali for you.

Still to come, world powers try to find an effective way to fight ISIS and its ideology. We're going to speak to one analyst who says military action

makes good TV, but not good policy.

And later, we are watching two pivotal elections on different sides of the world. Argentina may be in its biggest political shift in a decade. While

in Egypt, many feel it's just more of the same.

I'm Becky Anderson. You're watching Connect the World live on CNN. We're going to take a very short break. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: All right, in Paris the feelings of grief seem to have sparked a call to action. Many French are feeling compelled to defend their country

and applying to enlist in the army.

Here's CNN's Nic Robertson with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At a French army recruitment

center, young men are signing up.

"I wanted to join already," 19-year-old Xavier Sophie tells me. "When I heard about the attacks, it motivated me even more."

A few miles from last Friday's attack, men and women lining up to find out if they've got what it takes.

Recruiters are busier than ever.

"Today, I have received three times the number of completed forms than I would normally have by this time Friday," the recruiter tells me.

The writing on the wall here, France's people need protection.

The president says the country's at war. Its citizens are listening.

"The number of people who have contacted us," the commander officer of recruitment tells me, "has gone up dramatically since last Friday's

attacks."

Officers here say this spike in recruitment has already exceeded those who came to sign up following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January. And they

add, all those that volunteered then stayed the course.

My question for the commanding officer is simple.

Can the army, can the French army defeat Daesh?

"Of course," he says.

ROBERTSON: That simple.

"The French soldier," he continues, "has a mission to fill. He will fulfill his mission. He will put all his energy into fulfilling his

mission."

A mission that will have more fire power if needed in the wake of last week's barbaric attack.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:11:24] ANDERSON: Well, as you know, it's been more than a week since those deadly attacks, terror attacks in Paris that shocked the world and

prompted renewed vows from world powers to crush ISIS.

France, in particular, struck back immediately, intensifying their air strikes on ISIS targets in Syria.

ISIS, as we know, first emerged among rebel groups in Syria in 2013, later expanding into Iraq. More than two years on and thousands of coalition air

strikes later, the international community still hasn't found a coherent strategy to effectively fight the group.

Well, one man who is sounding caution as the world scrambles to react to the attacks in Paris is Francois Heisbourg. He's chairman of the

international institute for a former international security adviser to the French minister of

defense joining me now from Paris.

Francois, you have warned against knee jerk reactions that play into ISIS' hands. What do you mean by that?

FRANCOIS HEISBOURG, FRM. ADVISER TO FRENCH MINISTER OF DEFENSE: I mean by that, that people who are made to expect quick results in terms of removing

the terror threat are probably going to be disappointed. And if that is the case, hyping up the bombing operations may be deeply satisfying at the

communications level in terms of making people feel good, but in a few months time, this will probably not be enough to eradicate the threat, much of which is unfortunately

homegrown, rather than exported from the ISIS central, as it were, in Syria and Iraq.

ANDERSON: The day after the Paris attacks, you published an opinion piece in the Financial Times writing, and I quote, "that the temptation will be

great to follow the American and Russian road of apparently decisive action in the

Middle East, going to the source of the problem."

You continue, "unfortunately, what sounds simple and logical does not necessarily make good policy in a complex situation."

Doesn't sound as if the French president read or is listening to your words, ramping up action against ISIS. And we just had Nic's report, the

French people, it seems, increasingly enthusiastic about joining up.

What do you mean by apparently decisive action? Have the Russian and U.S. military interventions failed so far in your opinion?

HEISBOURG: Well, the Russian intervention, I was thinking about, was the one in Afghanistan some 30 years ago, which in effect helped provoke the

end of the Soviet Union itself, so that was not a great result from the standpoint of Moscow, and the American intervention was, of course, the

American intervention in Iraq, which was a catastrophe in its own right and helped bring about the current situation.

People who believe that it is easy to find decisive outcomes by intervening in the Middle East disregard the record of the last 50 years or so. So I'm

not saying that we should not be bombing Daesh. I actually rather like the notion of getting rid of some of these monsters, but we should not expect

that this in and of itself is actually going to solve the problem. It's going to take years and years of work, and much of that work will be about

intelligence gathering, following through with intelligence gathering, ramping up our security forces in France and in Europe, and not simply

doing rather sexy looking bombing operations which look great on television.

[11:15:24] ANDERSON: All right.

So if you were still the security adviser or international security adviser to the French minister of defense, as you were formally, what would your

three-point plan be at this point?

HEISBOURG: I don't know if it would be two or three. The first point would be to ramp up massively spending and recruitment in the intelligence

agencies, notably the underresourced, undermanned domestic intelligence forces that we have, which are individually excellent, but collectively

have not been able to prevent the outrages of the last three years in France including the very latest one.

And the second point would be don't raise people's expectations vis-a-vis the

bombing operations. Yes, of course, do bombing if it eliminates Daesh, ISIS, operatives, but don't make people believe that in six months this

will have resolved the issue. It will take, alas, much longer than that.

Some of that, by the way, I think is beginning to happen, certainly in the communications of our military people, who are insisting on the fact that

this may be for the long haul.

ANDERSON: I want our viewers to just see some images of the almost deserted

capital of the European Union this Sunday. The city of Brussels is on its highest

terror alert ever over fears of imminent attacks. And this follows days of raids

and arrests in Belgium.

As we know, many of the Paris attackers were European citizens. Francois, you talk about ramped up intelligence, but has Europe underestimated the

threat within its own borders?

HEISBOURG: Well, most European countries have comparatively weak domestic intelligence services. Communication between the services of the various member

states of the European Union has improved over the years, but is certainly deeply insufficient, and we're going to have to introduce measures which

the Americans know well, like passenger name recognition, PNR for air travel. We're going to have to significantly build up the outer borders of

the European Union through which we, of course, have the flow of migrants, but through which we also have

travel by terrorists operatives.

These borders have been underresourced if only because the countries involved happen to be the poorest countries, the most hard hit by the

economic crisis of the last two years, and have been in no state to effectively insure the external borders of the union.

This is going to take money. It's going to take time. It's going to take a lot more seriousness by some of the member states of the union.

There are some countries which are serious -- France, Britain, amongst them,

but there are a number which aren't.

ANDERSON: Do you sympathize with concerns both in Europe and indeed, growing momentum for this narrative in the U.S., that quite frankly,

borders should be closed, Syrian refugees are an issue. And that, you know, this growing concern about sort of, you know, those from within is justified. Do you

sympathize with those concerns?

HEISBOURG: No, I don't sympathize with the concern about the refugees. The problem is not the refugees. The problem is the weakness of the

borders. The screening at the borders is ineffective, whether you're talking about dealing with drug runners, whether you're talking about

dealing with terrorists or whether you're talking about illegal immigrants as opposed to people seeking asylum from the war-torn societies of the

Middle East, and notably, the folks from Syria.

They're not coming here to do welfare tourism, they're coming here because they're in fear of their own lives and they should be treated with

compassion and sympathy.

ANDERSON: Francois, that will -- we'll leave it there. Thank you for your analysis out of Paris for you this evening.

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

Coming up -- thank you -- a week after gunmen massacred dozens of music lovers at the Bataclan Theater, we're going to hear from a Paris street

band using music to take a stand against terror.

And later in the show, a crucial day in world politics as Argentina and Egypt both hold national elections. The very latest on those developing

stories later this hour. Taking a very short break. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:23:30] ANDERSON: You're with Connect the World live from Abu Dhabi at what is it, 23 minutes past 8:00 locally here.

Now the people of Paris trying to regain a sense of normality. For some, music has become a way to show defiance in the face of terror. My

colleague Max Foster spoke with members of one Parisian street band who say that despite the horrors that have hit their city, the show must go on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Every Saturday, Borsalino (ph) play in Place de Bourg (ph). There was no exception the day after the

attacks. They picked up their instruments and played in the usual way. Though they admit, they were scared.

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: It was good for us to do our thing and to see that people were happy to see that, you know, life was going on, music was going

on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's something that's changed.

FOSTER: Can you articulate that?

GARRY NAYAH, DOUBLE BASS PLAYER: Yeah, I think something has changed, but I think we're going to be stronger. I think we realize that we need to

fight for what we believe in and it's not something that's given to us. And we must realize that our freedom is something for which we have to

fight for, I think.

FOSTER: You're going to keep playing?

NAYAH: Yeah, we are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like a war where you see, you know, the other guys coming. They're already here, but you never know where or when they're

going to strike. You just have to keep on living. That's all. That's it.

FOSTER: A band in one street and a stitch in the tapestry of life in Paris.

Without their music, life just wouldn't be what it was. They're doing their bit amid a new reality.

Max Foster, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:25:21] ANDERSON: Well, latest world news headlines just ahead. Plus, we'll update you on what France is doing to prevent more terror attacks. A

live report on that later this hour. Taking a short break. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: This is Connect the World. The top stories for you this hour.

The UN now says 22 people were killed in Friday's attack on a popular hotel in Mali. Two Islamist militant groups claimed responsibility for that

attack. Now, the head of UN mission in Mali said the hotel may have been targeted because of peace talks taking place there to stabilize the

country's north.

Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian has been sentenced to prison in Iran, that is according to Iranian media. No details were given on the

length of the sentence. He was detained in July of last year on espionage charges.

The U.S. State Department says if reports of his sentencing are confirmed, it will call on Iranian authorities to, quote, vacate it immediately.

Brussels is on highest alert for a second day after Belgian authorities warned that multiple Paris-style attacks could be in the works. People

have been told to avoid crowds and the metro service has suspended until Sunday.

French police say the man who rented his apartment to the Paris attackers will be held for another 24 hours. Authorities raided the Saint-Denis flat

on Wednesday. Three people were killed, including the ring leader, a female cousin, and a man who has not yet been identified.

Get you the latest now on what France is doing in the wake of last week's attacks. CNN's Jim Bittermann joining us live from Paris.

What is the French gameplan to avoid a repeat of these attacks at home, Jim? And to help defeat the curse that is ISIS abroad and in Syria?

[11:30:52] JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's happening in a number of different levels. The response is coming in in a

lot of different ways. Diplomatically, Francois Hollande is going to have a very busy week. He's going to meet David Cameron on Monday, Barack Obama

on Tuesday, Angela Merkel on Wednesday, and Vladimir Putin on Thursday, all flying to all of those

different locations, basically, to talk them into committing more to the military fight against ISIS.

They have sent off the Charles de Gualle, the aircraft carrier with 26 fighter bombers on it. It will be off the coast of Lebanon, we're

assuming, or Syria, within the next few hours, and be operational, and the defense

minister said today it's likely to go into operation tomorrow. That means that the force of

planes out there will now be 38 French war planes in the area including those bases in Jordan and UAE.

And of course, the advantage of the Charles de Gualle is that it will bring planes closer to the targets. Some of the planes now have to have

refueling on the way to the targets, so it's a complicated mission.

On the internal front, the French are upping the number of security agents in army. They're adding, we're told, 17,000 military and police forces,

but they're also going to be adding a lot of intelligence workers in that mix that can look at the internet sites, and of course, with the emergency

powers that have been granted to Francois Hollande, there's going to be a lot of crackdown on basically on public

displays and public gatherings.

The big demonstration, for example, a week from today, for the climate change conference has been called off. Schools have been told they can't

send school children to the climate change conference. That's been canceled. And there has been a number of things that have been canceled.

So, there's a lot of things going on, different levels and different ministries involved.

ANDERSON: Jim Bittermann out of Paris for you with the very latest following those attacks that in Paris. Thank you, Jim.

France ramping up its war against ISIS in Syria. As Jim was reporting, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gualle has just arrived in the region. The

French foreign minister said it will start operations on Monday serving as a base for

more French air strikes against Daesh in Syria and in Iraq.

Well, for more on what the latest moves mean, joining me now is Dr. Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a political analyst focusing on the Middle East and a

regular guest on this show.

Francois Hollande has been quite specific about going after the group militarily following these attacks. Is that the answer?

ABDULKHALEQ ABDULLA, UAE UNIVERSITY: Well, that's one answer. It doesn't necessarily include the political answer, which is still not there. The

political link is not there and it's missing from this whole thing. Looking at the Paris atrocities and Belgium and all over, I'm afraid,

Becky, that we have not yet seen the worst of ISIS yet, and this beast called Daesh, or the curse as you called it -- called ISIS, is going to be

around for a long time to come.

However, the longer Assad stays in power, the longer we're going to see Daesh. We're not going to be defeating Daesh just militarily. The

Russians tried it, the Americans tried it, the coalition tried it. Now the French are trying it. We have got to have the political solution. It's

not there yet.

ANDERSON: Right. Let's talk, then, about what the game plan might be regionally here. Because I have heard you say before, and you will

continue to say that Assad is the problem, that's what you hear a lot in the Gulf.

the The U.S. secretary of defense, Ashton Carter, has criticized the Arab Gulf

allies of the United States for their eagerness to, quote, I quote him here, build show horse air forces when they needed to be more like the

Iranians who are, and I quote carter here, in the game on the ground, end quote.

Now, the U.S. is widely criticized for having no game plan to defeat ISIS. What's the Gulf's game plan?

ABDULLA: Well, this has to be done not just by the Gulf states, and it's really unfair to pick on the Arab Gulf states as indeed, if anyone has done

anything, it's the Arab Gulf estates who have joined the coalition from day one and still do.

And on the ground, the one doing the most harm is Iran. We don't want to do the same thing by supporting the atrocities of the militias.

[11:35:21] ANDERSON: So, does -- sorry, just to stop you there. How do the Gulf Arabs react to the kinds of words from Carter when he says the

Iranians are in the game on the ground?

ABDULLA: Well, I think he is like everybody else in Washington, he is misreading what the Iranians are doing and has this naive perspective of

Iran being the good guy, whereas in fact, Iran is the spoiler in here. So, I don't think anybody is listening to kind of lectures that is coming out

of Washington these days.

The Arab Gulf estates have done a whole lot. They joined the coalition. Now they are busy with Yemen. There's another front in there. This is not

the Arab Gulf states' case, it has to be done by the United Nations as a United Nations security has been paralyzed because of this division between

Moscow and Washington.

We have no clue what is the direction. We need a clear direction, and that clear direction has to come from somewhere else, not from the Gulf

capitals, but rather from Washington, maybe, and New York, the United Nations, as long as there is absence United Nations and agreed

international framework. There is no way we could join in, because we don't know the end game.

ANDERSON: There are those who will criticize the Gulf states to say that they -- to a certain extent they have created the problem that is...

ABDULLA: Absolutely not.

The one that created ISIS is Assad and his kind of, you know, war against his own people. What created Daesh or ISIS is the sectarian government in

Baghdad, and if you want to go a little bit back to 2003 it's America that created this whole

mess. Action by American created Iraq, inaction by American in Syria started it.

So it's not the Arab Gulf states, it's everybody. And this is not a blaming game. We have to get together and do something about it.

ANDERSON: Forgive me, because I did interrupt you when you were talking about what the Gulf's game plan might be. I appreciate your words when you

say it's not just about the Gulf and its regional allies here. The help is needed from outside and there shouldn't be a blame game.

Let's drill down, though, what is the game plan from here in association and coordination with others around the world?

ABDULLA: Well, I think you know we have this sharp division between Riyadh and Tehran. That is something that has to be hammered, and there is no

well anywhere to bring them together. The divide is very sharp. Maybe there is a need for these two countries, Iran and Saudi Arabia, to agree on

the end game. And I don't think that is coming anytime soon, by the way.

So, what are we end? We are left with nothing, we're left with no direction in the regional level, no direction on the international level,

and then you come and you ask the Arabs to join in? Do what? And what is at the end of the day there is something that has to be done by the

international community and we don't see it. And as long as that is lacking, there is nothing that we can do about it?

ANDERSON: President Obama and his foreign policy doctrine suggest that this is, you know, regional conflict should be to all intents and purposes,

the responsibility of the region. We can help, but we shouldn't be fully involved.

ABDULLA: Well, that is the kind of talk that is not very helpful, okay. I mean, for Obama to assume that this is a regional problem, he is missing

the point, too. This is after all, a problem, a havoc that is created by the American invasion of Iraq. And this is something that is created by an

American lack of action in Syria. And this is something created by Moscow and Russia not

coming to the help of Syria and taking a side with Assad.

And as I said before, as long as Assad is there, expect ISIS to be there, and expect more atrocities to come. Don't just leave it and throw it at

our lap. It is everybody's responsibility, and we have to join in together.

ANDERSON: U.S. Gulf analyst Dania Hateb (ph) wrote this in the Gulf News last week, you may have read this. I certainly did. And I quote, every

time Daesh loses on the ground, it flexes its muscles in the west in order to keep its prestige among the extremist base.

Do you buy the view in the first instance that we are looking at a weakened ISIS? And is there a link between what happens here in the Middle East and

the sort of attacks we see in Paris?

ABDULLA: I don't think we're looking at a weaker Daesh at all. A year later from where we were, Daesh today is all over the place in Europe and

America, and is terrorizing everybody right and left. It's already claimed responsibility for the downing of the Russian plane. It has taken now

responsibility for the Belgian and for the Paris, so it is not just limited to us. And I don't think that Daesh today is any degraded or any weaker

than it was just a year ago.

I'm afraid that we are in for surprises 2016 as we head for the next year. Daehs is going to be around. And there is no end to atrocities. And it

could be a global more than a regional atrocities.

[11:40:21] ANDERSON: How concerned is this region about the potential for an

attack like Paris?

ABDULLA: Very concerned. We are are really living next to very evil monster curse, whatever, and we are at the top of the alert, and everybody

is concerned, and we have never been as concerned about ISIS and about Iran and about Yemen, and

about so many of this havoc around us, than we are at this moment, Becky.

ANDERSON: Always a pleasure to have you on. Thank you very much indeed for your analysis.

live from abu dhabi, this is Connect the World. Coming up, election drama on

opposite sides of the world. Egypt votes to revise its parliament after a three-year hiatus, while Argentina's politics look set to take a sharp turn

right.

More on that, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDRESON: Well, the polls are open and ballots are being cast as Argentina chooses its first new president in eight years. It's the second round of a

hard fought election race to decide the successor to the outgoing president,

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. After 12 years in a left wing government, Argentine politics could be set for a shift to the right.

Pre-election polls show President Fernandez's favored candidate, Daniel Scioli trailing his opposition by about 5 percent.

Well, this is Connect the World with me, Becky Anderson. 44 minutes past 8:00 in the UAE. Welcome back here.

In our region, Egyptians also voting to restore their national parliament after a three-year hiatus. Polls currently open for a second round of

parliamentary elections. It's the eighth time Egyptians have voted since the Arab

Spring, and there is concern voter fatigue will keep participation low.

Nevertheless, they have hailed the election as a major step towards democracy.

Let's go live to Cairo. Ian Lee has been following the election there -- Ian.

[11:45:39] IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we have seen a low turnout again in this round. In the first round of the election, which was

half of the eligible voters, about 26 million at that time. We saw only 26 percent of voters going to the ballot box. Today, we are seeing another

low turnout. When I talk to voters, the one thing they're telling me is a few things, a reason why they're not voting.

First is they don't know the candidates. The candidates were only given about two weeks to campaign, and so voters saying they don't know their

programs, their agendas. The other thing is really just apathy. They voted eight times already. A lot of them, especially the youth, are saying

they don't trust where the country is going. And thirdly, a lot of people also just can't afford to vote.

They can't take a day off to vote. That being said, the government tomorrow is saying that government employees will have a half day to

encourage people to go out and vote. Also, the sheikh of al-Azhar (ph) came out and said it is

a sin not to vote.

And to put it all in context for you, in the first parliamentary election after the 2011 revolution, voter turnout was the highest at 62 percent.

Now, they're hoping, it currently is at 26 percent. They're hoping to bump that up with one more voting -- one more day of voting remaining.

ANDERSON: What's the new parliament expected to look like, Ian? Will it be pro-Sisi or not?

LEE: Well, Becky, every party that is running in this election is pro-Sisi to some degree, some are more, some are other -- the one thing that really

is missing is really any sort of opposition.

That being said, according to Egypt's constitution, the parliament has relatively more power than the president. Now, there has been talk that

the parliament might abdicate some of that power to the president, but right now, it's

going to be interesting to see how these two work together.

Up to now, Sisi has essentially ruled by decree. Now he'll have a parliament that he will have to answer to.

ANDERSON: Ian Lee is in Cairo for you this evening.

Well, security has become a major election issue in Egypt, particularly after ISIS claimed the downing of a Russian airliner over the Sinai

peninsula last month. The terror group has since claimed dozens more lives in Beirut and in Paris.

That news has struck a chord with members of Egypt's political and religious elite. Top Sunni Muslim cleric and Egypt has condemned the

terror group as a, quote, "grave injustice to Islam." You can head to CNN.com to read that full article.

Live from Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World. Coming up, from shock to mourning to determination, a look back at the emotional and eventful week

following the attacks in France.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:51:58] ANDERSON: Futbol fans sing the French anthem ahead of a game between England and France. The world of sport has also been affected by

events in Paris, understandably so. Just over a week ago, one of the attacks, of course, took place outside the Stade de France during an

international soccer match.

This is CNN and Connect the World with me, Becky Anderson. Welcome back.

Tonight, your Parting Shots and the terrorist attacks in Paris that claims 130 lives shocked the world, but also united it against such brutality.

The week following has shown touching displays of grief and solidarity from all corners of

the globe. International leaders advancing the fight against terror, and Parisians showing their resilience in the face of it all. Have a look and

a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): it's an act of war created by a terrorist army, Daesh, an army of jihadists, against France.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're reminded in this time of tragedy that the bonds of liberte and egalite and Fraternite are not

only values that the French people care so deeply about, but they are values that we share.

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We stand with you, united.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then suddenly, in a flash, there was chaos. Friday was a night of shock, Saturday was a day of mourning. But on

Sunday, we felt determined today to come out, to take our lives back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The headline of it is, I will not succumb to hate. Friday night, you stole an exceptional life, the love of my life, the

mother of my son, but I will not succumb to hate.

UNIDENTIIFED MALE: We stand free. We stand with the taste of life. We stand with happiness. We play games with my son. And then no, they don't

win.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:55:14] ANDERSON: Well, among the headlines tonight, more than a week after attacks rocked Paris, one of the suspects is still at large and the

French are stepping up their against ISIS, moving an aircraft carrier within striking distance of Syria, that and the stories that our team has

been working on throughout the day on our Facebook page: Facebook.com/cnnconnect.

You can get in touch with us there and with me as ever, you can tweet me @beckycnn. If you're a regular viewer you'll know that that's @beckycnn.

I'm Becky Anderson. That was Connect the World from the team working with us

here in the UAE and those working tirelessly around the world, it is a very good

evening. Thank you for watching.

END