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Iowans Set to Vote in U.S.'s First Primary; How WAs The Zika Virus Overlooked So Long? Boko Haram Razes Village; Pep Guardiola Announced as Manchester City's Next Manager. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired February 01, 2016 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:13:57] BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Well, you're watching Connect the World live from Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. At 13 minutes past 8:00.

The first contest in the 2016 U.S. presidential nominating process kicks off just hours from now. Voters in the state of Iowa will what's known as

caucus for their preferred Republican and Democratic candidates.

Now, after months of campaigning, debates and speeches, Iowans will soon be the first to weig in on the presidential hopefuls. But we still have

months to go before the election in November.

Well, the can for them the candidates crisscrossing the state trying to shore up support and win over undecided voters and the contest is tight,

let me tell you.

The latest polling puts Hillary Clinton neck and neck with rival Bernie Sanders in the Republican race. Donald Trump does have a slim lead over

the rest of the Republican field, but anything can happen.

We'll have much more on this Iowa vote ahead. Before we do, let's just get you some other stories making news around the world this hour.

And there's no vaccine to prevent it, no medicine to cure it. But the World Health Organization warns the Zika virus is now spreading explosively

in the Americas.

The mosquito-born disease is active in some two dozen countries and the WHO holding an emergency meeting in Geneva as we speak to address the crisis.

Well, it was a virus that was discovered some 70 years ago in a Ugandan forest located near Ontebe (ph).

As CNN's David McKenzie joins me now live from a research center the Zika Forest.

David, what are you learning there?

[11:15:38] DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're learning, Becky, is that there was this long lag from when they first

discovered the Zika virus in Rhesus monkeys here in the Zika Forest in Uganda until really it

caught the world's attention in 2007 when they had the first pandemic in Micronesia that then spread steadily across the ocean and hit Brazil. And

now you have these worries of this explosive growth, as the World Health Organization calls it.

What we're finding out from scientists here is that they need more support for the basic science, the groundwork that is done on emerging viruses in

areas like this in Equatorial Africa that really is a hot bed of virus production

and can certainly lead to more understanding and prevent the situation we're in right now

when Zika is little understood, it doesn't have a vaccine as you describe and doesn't even have diagnostic tests that are easily completed on

possible patients -- Becky.

ANDERSON: What's the risk of the virus spreading there? What is the health situation.

MCKENZIE: Well, the health situation for Zika here is not really a threat at this stage. And that's part of the reason there wasn't a sustained

research effort on it.

Because as I said, it was mostly in the monkey population, a zoonotic (ph) disease. It didn't spread into humans.

They believe there was some kind of mutation in the virus somewhere in Asia in the Asian strain of Zika, which causes to be potentially causing

microcephaly and autoimmune issues in South America.

So the strain is not here that is dangerous. There are other issues, of course, like malaria, dengue fever, which are much more dangerous to humans

in Africa. They do worry, though, that it will circle the globe, as it were, hit Africa again. And if it's proven that these serious health

conditions are linked to Zika, then you could see an epidemic in Africa as well of that new strain of Zika, which is potentially causing this

devastation.

ANDERSON: All right. David McKenzie there in what is known as the Zika Forest. Thanks, David.

Well, many consider him to be the world's most wanted football manager. And now he's off the market. Pep Guardiola will become the Manchester City

manager this summer.

The former Barcelona boss will replace Manuel Pellegrini. They announced the news in a press conference earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANUEL PELLEGRINI, MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER: Before I finish, I'll tell you that I talked with the group. When I finish my contract in the original

date in June. We extend the contract one year more, but we think close that one of (inaudible) cannot use that extended contract. So I finish

here in the original date, the 30 of June.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, I'm joined by Tom Bushell, a sports journalist here in the UAE. Pep, most recently of course at Bayern Munich. I don't want to

confuse people.

Man City, of course, owned by Abu Dhabi. Was this a decision taken from here, do you think?

TOM BUSHELL, SPORTS JOURNALIST: I think absolutely. I think ever since the owners here in Abu Dhabi took over the club back in 2009 they have

wanted to grow that club and make it a competitive club around the world and the Champions

League, of course, and the Premier League as well.

And I think this is just another step towards executing that pan they have had in place for so many years now.

Pep Guardiola is the world's finest football coach by far. If you look at his trophy count, 19 trophies and, what, six full season of managerial

career now. It's phenomenal.

Manchester City want a bit of that. And they've got it.

ANDERSON: They might get it, though, with the manager they have got at the moment. They are still up for four trophies this season. How does this

impact the rest of City's season, do you think? It must put Pellegrini, who we have just seen there, who was a charming, charming man. It must put

him in an awkward position, doesn't it?

BUSHELL: Well, I think he's -- you know, he's come out today and said he's fully supportive of the announcement today I think to get rid of any

speculation over the course of the rest of the season.

I saw tweets the other day saying Pep Guardiola's wife have been spotted looking at schools in Manchester for their kids. Let's get rid of all of

that and let's concentrate on here are the facts and this is what's going to happen.

But Manuel Pelligrini, you're right, he could be winning the League, the season. They are in the final of the League Cup, the FA Cup they're still

there. And of course The Champions League as well.

So, you know, he could be going from Manchester City a happy man going I've done a good job here.

[11:20:06] ANDERSON: Yeah, remarkable stuff. Have a listen to what Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the chairman of The City Football Group, as it's

known, because it's not just Manchester City, of course, they have got clubs in Australia and of course in New York. Have a listen to what he

told us recently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHALDOON AL MUBARAK, CHAIRMAN, CITY FOOTBALL GROUP: We've defined a strategy, we have executed on the strategy over the last couple of years

and now we're showing how the strategy has been valued by other investors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Yeah, Abu Dhabi interested in the business side of football as well as what goes on on the pitch.

Do you think that's influenced the -- I'm not suggesting for a moment they are going to get worse on the pitch, because Pep is an amazing manager.

But does that influence the decision, do you think?

BUSHELL: You know, I think when it comes to the business of sport, essentially it all grows from what happens on the pitch, doesn't it? And

so it's a results business at the end of the day.

But of course, you know, Manchester City and a brand of Manchester City around the world is very important, for any football club. And I think,

you know, to get the most wanted coach in place to have the best players in the world and players that want to play there is vitally important. And I

think from day one this has been their plan.

You look at The City football academy in Manchester now. It's a superb facility.

What they do around the world for kids as well, especially here in Abu Dhabi with the City football schools.

It's all growing towards City being one of those top-top brands in football around the world.

ANDERSON: Well, you suggested that it's still in the Champion's League. Am I right in saying they could meet Bayern. They could, right?

BUSHELL: Bayern Munich are quite possible, yeah, quite possibly. Yeah, absolutely. They're still in the Champion's League. And it's the one

trophy Pep hasn't won with Bayern Munich. He'd love to win that with Bayern Munich before he leaves. So, I mean it's going to be a fascinating

end to this season, now, isn't it?

ANDERSON: It's a great, great story.

All right, good. Tom, always a pleasure. Thank you very much indeed.

Live from Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson for you.

Coming up, we go behind the scenes of one business in cartoon creativity that is proving that the more animated the team, the greater its success.

That's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Right. You're watching Connect the World live from Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. Welcome back. To 23 minutes past 8:00 here.

Teamwork, we are told, is the key to success in business. But how do you get the best brains in your business all working together to come up with

the winning formula?

Well, have a look at this as we launch the first in what is a brand new series on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER LORD, CO-FOUNDER, AARDMAN STUDIOS: Aardman is an animation company, very British animation company, and we

have been going for 40 years now. And we do all kinds of different stuff. Feature films like Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the Wererabbit.

The whole world of animation. But we like to do characters.

I'm Peter Lord, co-founder at Aardman. And this is my team.

We were approached by the people from Google Spotlight telling us about this new technology. Your viewing device, usually a phone, becomes like a

camera. There's an entire three dimension 360 world around you. And you can choose where to look in that world.

We had this idea, it was a sort of a chase: one cat chasing another and never quite finding him. Then, I was some regret, and I loved it so much.

But I had to hand it to the team. You've got to share these things out, you know.

TIM RUFFLE, DIRECTOR: I'm Tim Ruffle, and I'm director of Special Delivery.

We built a cardboard set to do the storyboard and try and work out how the animation plays out. It's a very different way of working to how you would

traditionally. Everything had to work in physical space. If a character walked across the courtyard, it had to be the right amount of distance so

the viewer doesn't get bored as a director. You don't want to get bogged down in like the technicalities of it. You kind of have a vision.

I'm Phillip Child. And I'm technical director at Aardman Animations.

We didn't really know how people were going to react to it or how people were going to watch it, which is a slightly unnerving thing, because you

don't know if it's a sort of eye reaction from people or to allow the action to continue when they are not looking, which is a kind of

interesting creative challenge.

I kind of take what Tim ideally wants and take the producer's budget and try to create Tim's vision for the producer's budget.

HEATHER WRIGHT, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, AARDMAN: I'm Heather Wright, executive producer on special delivery. My job is very much about crystallizing -- this is the opportunity. This is what we think it might cost. And this is

created for what we can do for the money.

We have to be kind of playing advocate for both sides, because (inaudible) paying for it and the people that are trying to create the product.

I think the biggest problem with being the artist to get together on this one was the fact that we just didn't know the capabilities of the

technology.

LORD: This is new pioneering technology, which is being invented, changed, enhanced, improved all the time as you worked, bouncing backwards and

forwards from the director, the animator, the technical team. The (inaudible) the whole time.

Teamwork, you know, is just like the heart of what we do. It's the essence of filmmaking.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: (inaudible) on CNN.

The latest world news headlines, just ahead. Plus, all eyes are on Iowa. The small state plays a major role in the race for the White House in the

U.S. We have got reporters in Des Moines and Washington. Up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[11:31:12] ANDERSON: Right. Let's do some U.S. politics. It's an important day in the States. Iowans will cast the first ballots in the

race for the White House in the coming hours.

Now, the state's caucus, as it's known, is the first major test for the candidates during what is this election season. Now CNN's poll of polls

shows billionaire Republican Donald Trump with a narrow lead over Ted Cruz, 31 percent to 24 percent.

Democrat Hillary Clinton leads by just 3 percentage over Bernie Sanders, 47 to 44.

Clinton spoke to CNN's Alyson Camarota on New DAy a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FRM. U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I am feeling great. I am so proud of the campaign we have run here in Iowa. I have got the most

dedicated campaign team, the organizers who have been on the ground, the thousands of

volunteers. We actually knocked on 125,000 doors this weekend. So there's just a lot of excitement and energy and I'm urging everybody to come out

and caucus tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: All right.

Well, CNN politics executive editor Mark Preston reporting live from Des Moines in Iowa, and White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski with a

bigger picture from the White House.

Mark, let's kick off with you.

After months of hearing from the candidates, today is the day that we get to hear from the voters for the first time, of course. It is, I'm told, a

very chilly day in Iowa. How seriously do the residents take their roles in all of this?

MARK PRESON, CNN POLITICS: Oh, they take it very seriously no doubt about that.

But what's interesting about Iowa, we're only looking at potentially about 150,000 people who will participate on the Republican side, maybe 150,000

people on the Democratic side. So you have to be very focused on it.

Now even those who do not caucus here in Iowa are well steeped in politics. They totally understand what is going on here and it is hard because you

can't swing a stick right now, Becky, without hitting a presidential candidate.

They are on the trail today trying to get that last bit of support to get them over the finish line, Becky.

ANDERSON: All right. Let me just get our viewers bang up to date on what's going on here.

Iowa located on the Midwestern U.S., considered part of America's heartland. It's home to more than 3 million people, mostly white working

class and right of center. Agriculture drives Iowa's economy, generating more than $112 billion a year. And it's responsible for 1 of every 5 jobs

in the state.

Before I come to you, Michelle, Mark How does the profile of the Iowan resident affect the way they vote, if at all?

PRESTON: Well, let's look at it in two different lanes. In the Republican lane, the likes of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz who are vying for the number

one slot here right now, we expect one of them to win the caucus tonight. They are looking at evangelical voters. These are Christians that are very

steeped in the political process. They believe that if they can get a majority of them, both of them, that they can win this evening.

The centrist vote, the more moderate vote, is not as influential here. They are influential but not as influential. And that's why we don't see

the likes of Jeb Bush, John Kasich the Ohio governor, really campaigning here.

On the Democratic side, very, very liberal. We only need to go back eight years where Barack Obama, an African-American, really surprised everybody

by winning the Iowa caucuses.

Demographically, I have to point out I believe that it is less than 2 percent of the state population, Becky, is black.

So very liberal. Helped Obama. Bernie Sanders is trying to get that vote.

ANDERSON: And it killed off Hillary Clinton, of course, in 2008.

We'll come to that in a moment.

Michelle, he still has ten months in office. But then it's all over, as it were, for President Obama as he clears his desk for whoever wins in

November.

What is his role, if at all, or any, in this?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Hhite House has been saying -- and the president, too, -- has said that he wants to

stay out of it for now. He is avoiding naming someone that he will endorse, at least at

this point.

I mean most likely until a nominee is decided for the Democratic Party, he's not going to choose.

But what he has done is on the one hand speak out vehemently, I mean, just slamming Republicans virtually any chance he gets. And on the Democratic

side, he has given this one interview just in the last week where he seemed to praise Hillary Clinton repeatedly while at the same time seeming to

question whether Bernie Sanders could handle the job saying that when you're president you need to be able to focus on more than one thing.

He seemed to raise a lot of questions. I mean, he had some kind words for Sanders. So many saw that one interview as effectively an enforcement of

Hillary Clinton by the president.

But the White House continues to deny it saying that while of course he knows Hillary Clinton better. She served as his secretary of state, but by

the same token the question is still out there well why doesn't the president just full on endorse Clinton at this point and make it official?

But nobody would be surprised at that. Although the White House says while he feels like this debate between Sanders and Clinton is good for the

party, it's good for Democracy, and he wants to stay out of it for now.

But it's caused some odd situations. I mean, just the other day Bernie Sanders came to the White House to meet with the president and sit down

with him. It was a meeting that Sanders had asked for. They met for about an hour and then Sanders came out and talked to the cameras about how much

they agree on.

But a few days after that he's now kind of writing a blurb for a book called "Buyer's Remorse: How Obama Failed Progressives." Or let

progressives down.

So, you know, he agrees with the president on a few things, but he's also been quite vocal on things that he disagrees with the president on.

So, there seems to be no question that of course President Obama would like his successor to be Hillary Clinton. But he doesn't want to make that

official at least not now.

ANDERSON: Mark, I wonder if it he doesn't have a slightly rye smile on his face as he watches what goes on this evening given that he did beat Hillary

Clinton in Iowa in 2008.

Look, our viewers will probably be more familiar, I would guess, with Hillary Clinton than Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side, given as

Michelle rightly pointed out, that she spent some time in his administration as secretary of state.

What happens if Hillary Clinton doesn't win tonight? She's obviously in the lead by a margin at this point?

PRESTON: It's very plausible. If Bernie Sanders gets out young people and gets out young women, if you can imagine that. Young women are supporting

Bernie Sanders at this point. Hillary Clinton is getting older women.

If Bernie Sanders wins tonight, he's going into New Hampshire, the primary will be next Tuesday. He already has a double digit lead over Hillary

Clinton in New Hampshire. It would be astronomical for him.

And what it would do for Bernie Sanders, it would give him more credibility as a candidate, because there's still questions about that and it would

allow him to raise an incredible amount of money to help fuel his candidacy well beyond New

Hampshire.

ANDERSON: And Michelle -- thank you, Mark.

Michelle, the Trump, the Donald as he's known -- Donald Trump.

Moment of truth for him tonight?

KOSINSKI: Well, we'll see. I mean, you know leading up to this caucus, much

is made of it sets the tone. We'll see where it goes from here. The question of momentum. But you also have to step back a little bit and look

at how many presidents -- and they won Iowa and ended up winning, but how many lost Iowa and then ended up winning.

So, it really could go either way. It definitely adds to the excitement, though. I mean, this is what people are watching.

People have been talking about Trump's momentum from virtually the second he started the race. There was much surprise that that momentum continued

as long as it did, to the point that the party just had to say, well, OK. You know, this could really happen. He could end up being the nominee.

So, he's surprised people for awhile now. We'll see what happens tonight.

ANDERSON: Chaps, thank you so much. Fascinating times in the States.

We are live out of Abu Dhabi for you. This is Connect the World with me Becky Anderson. Coming up, well the death toll rises in one Nigerian village on a grade after a brutal terrorist attack by Boko Haram. I'm

going to get you the on what has been the horrific aftermath.

And a tradition is changing at Jerusalem's western wall. What's in store for the holy site and why it's dividing Jewish leaders. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: All right, Africa View there.

At least 65 people are dead and more than 100 are wounded after Boko Haram militants burned a village in Borno State to the ground over the weekend.

The militants attacked just after evening prayers. They began shooting villages and setting homes on fire.

CNN's Robyn Kriel has more. And we warn you, her report contains images that you may find disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN INTERNATIONAL COCRRESPONDENT: This is what's left of the town of Delori (ph) after militants arrived early on Saturday evening armed

with machine guns and explosives.

Most residents fled quickly. They spent the night in the bushes hiding from the explosions and shooting and watched their town razed to the

ground.

When the Nigerian army arrived it managed to repel the attackers after a fierce firefight. Too late for some, dozens lost their lives.

Delori (ph) is close to the heavily guarded Nigerian town of Maidiguri (ph), the birthplace of Boko Haram before it was ousted three years ago.

It's home to roughly 20,000 internally displaced Nigerians who fled other areas besieged by fighting, constant Boko Haram raids and suicide bombings.

Security experts tell CNN this sort of brazen attack so close to Maidiguri (ph) is surprising, but shows that Boko Haram's operational capacity has

not been diminished alongside its loss of territory.

This attack also has major implications for Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari's plans to resettle internally displaced people in areas liberated

from Boko Haram.

Buhari earlier claimed in 2015 that his soldiers would defeat Boko Haram by the end of the year. But the militant jihadi group, which renamed itself

ISWAP, Islamic State's West African Province in March 2015 when it pledged allegiance to ISIS, has been able to fight back.

Several deadly attacks in the country's northeast in December 2015 and January 2016 have destroyed any hope of a swift end to the fighting.

Robyn Kriel, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, my colleague Nima Elbagir spent much of the past year also reporting on the disturbing activities of Boko Haram, joining me now from

London tonight.

Nima, experts saying they were surprised to see what was such a brazen attack by this group. Were you?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESOPNDENT: Well, given that it comes at

the tail end of about a month of pretty intensive aerial bombardment, yes, the Nigerian air force says that it has conducted nearly 300 sorties. And

this is the kind of attack that we haven't really seen for awhile from Boko Haram.

And the Nigerian government have been saying for the last few months that Boko Haram no longer has the capacity to carry out -- this was a complex

attack, armed men coming in on pickup trucks followed by three female suicide bombers to try to pick up those attempting to flee for their lives.

This was clearly very well thought out. It was very well planned.

And this is quite new within this Buhari military push. So I think that really is where Boko Haram has caught not just Nigeria, but I think most of

those watching from abroad by surprise.

The question is, now what? If Boko Haram has shown that given that intensive military operation, given that intensive aerial bombardment, that

they still have this capacity when a lot of their supply lines outside of Nigeria are being cut off, what does that mean about the supporet that they

are receiving locally and what's the government going to be able to do about that, Becky?

ANDERSON: Good questions. No answers at present. We'll watch the space. Nima, thank you. Always a pleasure.

We'll get you to Israel now where a major change is headed to one of Judaisms holiest sites. Israel has approved a permanent space to allow men

and women to pray together at Jerusalem's Western Wall.

Now, for years, the wall has been split under orthodox standards to separate male and female worshipers. An informal, temporary prayer space

was set up to allow them to pray together.

Well, that space will now be made permanent. Well, the change has infuriated many orthodox members of the Israeli government.

CNN's Oren Liebermann toured the site on the edge of the -- southern edge of the Western Wall and filed this report. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This temporary set up here will be the permanent space for egalitarian prayer near the Western Wall right here

behind me. One of the holiest sites in judaism. This will be the spot where men and women of all Jewish denominations can come and pray together.

Now it stands in stark contrast and sharply separated from the traditional western wall plaza here right next to us where men and women pray

separately. That western wall plaza is governed by the orthodox rabbi who says this new egalitarian space is a desecration of god's name that will

take years to repair.

The orthodox rabbi says men and women should not pray together because it's against Jewish law, known as Halakha and goes against generations of Jewish

tradition.

Advocates of this new prayer section, the egalitarian section of prayer here say it will allow men and women to pray following their own

traditions, their own beliefs as opposed to the strict supervision in the traditional western wall plaza. They say they have been working on this

for years, decades even, and this is their big victory.

Though it will take another 12 to 18 months to complete this permanent prayer area.

They say it is one wall for one people, though, critics of the new area say in fact it is further splitting the western wall really creating three

separate walls for one people.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, in the old city of Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: We're going to get you more on this. I'm joined by the chairwoman of one of the groups that championed this change Anat Hoffman of

the Women of the Wall joining us out of Jerusalem this evening. We thank you for that.

Firstly, your response. What does this ruling mean to you?

ANAT HOFFMAN, WOMEN OF THE WALL: The ruling is a good step in the right direction. I would like to just mention that it's a group of women that

started this 27 years ago with a folding plastic table and a good idea. And we fought for the right of women to have equal prayer to men, not a

mixed group, but actually first to be able to pray at the women's section the way people do to wear

this prayer shawl, for example, to reach for the holy scroll of the torah.

We wanted to be recognized as people. And we had a lot of run-ins with the police and with the rabbi. And at long last, after 27 years, the

government of Israel decided enough is enough, let's give you jurisdiction over another part of the wall where you can actually run the affairs with

the values of pluralism and gender equality.

ANDERSON: All right. I hope you can hear me, because you're just playing a little bit with your earpiece. I think you can.

You've been arrested a number of times for your role in campaigning at the wall, along with other female campaigners, of course. Just how difficult a

battle was this to win?

HOFFMAN: Well, it's taken 27 years. We started as single women. We're now grandmothers. Yes, we were arrested not for campaigning. We were

arrested for praying. And I have a criminal record and I always broke the same law. I broke the law of the holy places that states that anyone

performing a religious act contrary to local custom, which offends the feelings of others is punishable by one year imprisonment. This law,

thankfully, yesterday, was erased from Israel's law books.

ANDERSON: This new space is a desecration of god's name, says one orthodox rabbi. Do you sympathize or empathize with his and others who buy his

line?

HOFFMAN: I'm sure there is a rabbi that says that, but it's not the official rabbi of the wall. Rabbi of the wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch

actually came to this agreement with us. We didn't sit at the same room. In fact, I

have never spent so many hours with a man I have never been with in the same room. But we spent many hours negotiating with the cabinet secretary,

actually two and a half years, who then went and negotiated with the rabbi and we came to this agreement out of mutual respect and the important rabbi

is actually with us.

The vote in the government was 15 ministers voted for this arrangement and 5 against. So an overwhelming majority.

ANDERSON: How important do you think this is to the Jewish diaspora? I know some 3 million people visit the wall on an annual basis, I believe the

figure is. Just how important is it to those who may not be residents, for example, of Jerusalem?

HOFFMAN: This is very important for diaspora Jews, because when you look at

the millions that come to the wall every year, many of them don't feel that -- they don't feel at home at the wall. Israel has a very hard sale that

the wall is a place of unity for the whole Jewish people. How could there be unity with all Jewish people when half of the people, the women, are

denied basic rights there, the basic right to pray as they wish.

So our success is actually a victory for Jews. Israel is way too important to be left just for Israelis when it comes to Judaism. And I welcome the

input of diaspora Jews and I'm glad they said enough is enough and we're going to work to changing reality in Israel.

ANDERSON: It's been a pleasure having you on, Anat Hoffman of the Women of the Wall out of the Jerusalem bureau this evening.

Let me know what do you think about this new plan for the western wall? Your thoughts are always appreciated. You can publish those on the

Facebook page. Facebook.com/CNNconnect.

You can get in touch with me, of course, you can tweet me @BeckyCNN. We read everything. I promise you. Get in touch.

Live from Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson. Coming up, just how does one caucus? We'll explain the process and why

watch Iowa, the U.S. state of Iowa, decide in the next few hours could be crucial in the race for the White House of 2016. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: At five to 9:00 here in the UAE, you're watching CNN, Connect the

World with me Becky Anderson.

Why is Iowa so important? Well, it's the first state to weigh in during the U.S. presidential campaign and results there could have a significant

impact on the race and what happens in the states, of course, has a massive influence on what happens wherever you are watching in the world.

Barack Obama won Iowa in 2008 and he went on to secure his party's nomination. But the Iowa caucuses, as they are known, aren't always

predictive of the eventual nominee.

For example, Iowa did not help recent Republican winners in that state get their party's nomination.

Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee won in Iowa but did not secure their party's

Republican nomination.

Well, the caucus process is a bit difficult to grasp, top be honest. It's different for Republicans and Democrats so CNN's Tom Foreman breaks it down

for all of us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Iowa caucuses, this is what we`ve been leading up to all this time.

And for the Republicans, it`s a simple matter. They show up on caucus night. And they cast their ballots and they count them.

For the Democrats, though, this is a process. What that means is that hundreds of precincts all across the state, they will physically gather and

divide up, based on which candidates they support. So, for example, if we had 100 Democrats in one place and they divided among four different

candidates, it might break out like this.

Now, if any candidate does not have at least 15 percent of support in that room, that candidate is declared out of it. The voters, however, can either

go home or they can start going to some of the other candidates out there. And that`s when you get talk and horse trading and a lot of wheeling and

dealing because everyone wants to walk away with the most support for his or her candidate.

Once it`s settled for the night, though, that precinct will report, as do hundreds of others, to the state level, where a lot of math will be done.

And when that math is complete, we will have from both parties, the first real indication of how the delegates will be divided, and who is actually

leading the pack on both sides in the race for the White House.

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ANDERSON: Tom Foreman reporting for you.

Stay right here for CNN for all of the very latest developments in Iowa and what is this race to the White House. We'll be back with continuing

coverage of the caucuses.

I'm Becky Anderson. That was Connect the World. Thank you for watching from the team here, it is a very good evening.

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