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Apple Ordered to Pay Ireland 13 Billion Euros in Back Taxes; U.S. Presidential Candidates Accuses Eachother of Bigotry, Racism; Aleppo's Father of Flowers. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired August 30, 2016 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:11] BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: More than 14 billion dollars, that is how much the European Union is ordering Apple to pay in back taxes. Details on
the tech giant's giant bill is just ahead.
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: As the battlefield in Syria gets even messier, we have a story of one man choosing to see the beauty in life, even in war.
And...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENIFIED MALE: Accusations of racism leading to more personal attacks on the campaign trail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: New controversy in the U.S. presidential campaign. I'm joined by Republican National Committee's director of African-American engagement
later this hour.
This is Connect the World live from CNN Center all this week. Now, European regulators are taking a big bite out of Apple. They say the tech
giant owes Ireland $14. 5 billion in unpaid taxes.
Apple runs its entire European operation from Ireland and regulators say a sweetheart deal with the Irish government allowed Apple to pay taxes of
just 1 percent or less in some years.
Let's dig deeper on this. CNN Money editor at large Rchard Quest joins me from New York, and CNN Money business and tech correspondent Samuel Burke
joining me from London. Samuel, let's start with you, this is a complex story which could have huge ramifications now just for Apple and its
employees, but many other big U.S. corporations doing business in Europe.
So, break it down for them at this point. What do would know?
SAMUEL BURKE, CNN MONEY: Becky, Apple, an American corporation, has had much of its international operations headquartered in Ireland. We have
known all along that they weren't paying a whole lot in taxes. We know the that signature tax rate, as it's known in Ireland, is 12.5 percent. And we
have long assumed that it was way less than that that they were paying.
But Apple has always said listen we do what the Irish government tells us to do. We work within their framework. And the Irish government has
always said, that's right they are following our tax rules.
Today, the European Union says those rules violate the larger EU rules and that Apple will have to pay back the $14.6 billion plus interest that it
owes in back taxes to Ireland. But the number that really stands out to me here, Becky, when the commissioner was speaking she said these two numbers.
And let me put them up on the screen.
She said back in 2003, Apple paid just 1 percent in corporate tax. And in 2014, just .005 percent in corporate tax. I don't know how much you pay in
taxes, Becky, but I know a lot of people at home are thinking, that is a lot less than what I have to say.
ANDERSON: Yeah, you are absolutely right I can tell you that from my side.
Richard, from our side it does sound a little dodgy, doesn't it?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, except for one thing: the Irish tax authorities signed off on it. In 1991, and again in
2007, they issued what was known as a tax ruling. And that tax ruling allowed Apple to apportion its European profits to a ficticious head
office. This head office existed nowhere, belonged seemingly to no one, and paid taxes to no one. And that's how you get the number that Samuel
just talked about.
Basically, Ireland said to Apple, fine, book all your business in Ireland. Wherever you sell a computer in Europe, book it as if it was done in
Ireland and we will let you hive off the profits into this fictious headquarters company.
Now, if anybody is guilty of anything, it's Apple for putting in place an egregious tax avoidance system, which -- but, frankly, Becky, they must
have laughing and absolutely amazed that the Irish ever signed off on it.
ANDERSON: This is what I find extraordinary. One of the guests I have got on the show a later today has said thanks EU commission tweeting this
morning, win or lose, Ireland wins both ways -- i.e., it's going to get this back tax -- it doesn't know -- to a certain extent it doesn't, does
it? Because this is a big deal for Ireland. There are other companies out there. What are the ramifications of all of this?
QUEST: The obvious one is first of all, Becky, everybody is up to it in some shape, form, or description. Belgium is being clobbered, Ireland is
being clobbering, the UK in the past has been clobbered. So that is why you have to -- I know people are making this as being a supra national
European overreach into the tax affairs of individual countries. But the moment you have tax affairs in a single market, you have to have a referee
that says this is illegal aid.
And that's what this is all about. Basically, we can boil it down to one sentence: Ireland was
giving Apple an unfair tax advantage over other companies.
ANDERSON: Right. Let's get reaction from Apple then, Richard. The CEO reacting today, Tim Cook says in part -- I want to get this up on the
screen for our viewers. The opinion issued on August 30 alleges that Ireland gave Apple a special deal on our taxes. This claim, he says, has
no basis in fact or in law. We never asked for nor did we receive any special deals. We now find ourselves in the unusual position of being
ordered to retroactively pay additional taxes to a government that says we don't owe them any more than we've already paid.
What are the consequences or the ramifications for the wider story about Europe and how
companies do business? We just had the Brexit issue. Massive deal as the UK works out what its deal with the EU will be going forward? What are
your thoughts.
QUEST: Well, I'll just take this briefly, if I may, Samuel, the reality is it's fine for me to say, you know, look this is all horrible for Ireland
and it is a dreadful overreach by Europe and it is a stretch too far. But remember, Becky, this is about making sure everybody
is playing in a level playing field in Europe.
And yes, maybe Apple's deal wasn't special to Apple, maybe other companies in Ireland also got similar details in which case they shouldn't. But
companies in Italy, in Spain, in France, in Germany -- I can go through the whole 27 members of the EU, they will all be saying it
wasn't fair on them.
BURKE: And even though so many people agree with exactly what exactly Richard is saying I'm hearing from so many analysts, Becky, that say
they're afraid that companies like Apple might leave Ireland. Yes, they're not playing on a fair level, according to the EU, but there could be
countries like Ireland. There are tax deals similar to these, maybe not as big, but similar in nature, in The Netherlands, in Luxomburg with Amazon,
with Starbucks. And so what some analysts tell me they fear that some of these companies could just uproot and put their headquarters in other
places like The Caribbean, the far East and the Middle East.
QUEST: You can't have it both ways when it comes to tax, Becky. On the one hand, every countries wants the companies there for jobs, for prestige,
for reputation. But on the other hand, the tax has to be paid. And if I'm paying more tax than you, well, obviously you end up with a sort of unfair
situation of somebody has to say, this has to change.
ANDERSON: It has a lot of leg this story. Chaps, thank you for breaking it all down for us.
And we are going to get back to this story later in the show. An Irish economist is my guest
from Dublin in about half an hour's time.
Well, it is a one of the bloodiest conflicts in the world, and almost -- also one of the most complicated. I'm talking about the war in Syria.
It's in its sixth year, and the battlefield, well it's very crowded.
One thing is clear, just about every party involved has a common enemy, and that is ISIS. But some groups are also going after other interests. One
of the biggest players, as you know, is Turkey.
It now has boots on the ground facing ISIS, but also targeting Kurdish militants. And that is rattle nerves in Washington because the U.S.
supports the same Kurdish forces that Turkey, a NATO ally is targeting.
Washington wants both parties to shift their focus back to the militant group known as ISIS.
But is Turkey listening? Let's get you CNN's international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh. She's in the Turkish city of Gaziantep near the Syrian
border.
Is Ankara listening to Washington at this point?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are getting some sort of indication that there may be yet another deal coming to fruition at
this point. You know, the U.S. has been pressuring, as you heard yesterday from Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, the Turkish and their Syrian
allies to stop heading south towards those Syrian Kurds, and as they have for over a week now, to some, frankly, Frustration, pushing the Syrian
Kurds to honor what Washington have always said was their red line, that they go back to the eastern side of the Euphrates River.
Remember, they crossed over the Euphrates to kick ISIS out of a town called Manbij. The U.S. say the deal always was said once they'd done that was
they've go back. But they haven't at this stage.
Now, we're hearing from a spokesperson for the Syrian Kurds. Remember, they were in lots of loose different factions here, but the spokesman has
spoken on behalf of quite a few of them for some time. They are suggesting that since midnight, there had been in effect some sort of ceasefire
between them and Turkish. And that appears to be holding, certainly in the areas south of Jarablus.
At the same time, though, earlier today, we did hear from the Turkish military they conducted 21 different targets being struck in just the last
24 hours. That would be using artillery.
So, clearly there is still some volatility in that area, but there is a lot of pressure from the Pentagon to get Turkey to step back from their allies,
the Syrian Kurds and ensure that these two long-term adversaries don't waste all their energy fighting each other, frankly, and forget the fight
against ISIS.
But we've heard these signals now repeatedly out of Washington for about 72 hours that they are pretty much finding a way to get everyone to get along
and the fact we're still hearing it now suggests it hasn't really been that smooth sailing, Becky.
[11:10:56] ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh on the border for you. Updating us on what is a critical story.
If you find this all a little bit confusing what's going on on the ground, well, we have tried to
break it down. And I do understand if you do. It's on our website. Check out this graphic showing
all the parties involved and who they are fighting, an attempt to break that down on CNN.com.
Well, the war in Syria is one of the conflicts that led to Europe's migrant crisis. People fleeing violence and poverty are still risking their lives
to reach the continent. Well, the Italian coast guard tells CNN it pulled some 6,500 migrants from the waters of the Mediterranean Sea in just over a
day, piling into dangerously overcrowded boats.
Families from across Africa trying to reach Europe but got stranded just off the coast of
Libya.
Barbie Nadeau is monitoring the situation for us from Rome -- Barbie.
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, it is a tragic situation. 6,500 people over the course of 30 hours. A day before that, 1,100 people.
And you know, Becky, once they get to land in Italy, their journey really has to begin almost all over again, because they need asylum, they need to
be vetted. It's not just get to Italy and go.
But among those that were saved, were twins, 5 days old premature twins that had to be air lifted to safety. A woman so heavily pregnant she gave
birth just shortly after she was on the rescue vessel.
You know, these people have difficult lives before lives before they even get on these boats. And it's going to be more and more difficult as they
get to shore, Becky..
ANDERSON: Yes, it is a very sad situation. What happens next at this point?
NADEAU: Well, once they get to the Italian mainland, and this journey between the place they were rescued and to get the Italian shore can take
up to two days, depending on where they're going to be going. They will be vetted. They will be separated based on their country of origin.
But of course so many people don't have documents. So many people don't have -- they are a story that has to be checked out. They don't have proof
of that story. They will take to children who are separate from their parents. They will try to determine how many people may have died on the
journey. They will start talking to people to see if anyone fell overboard. There were 40 operations that these 6,500 people came in on.
All these ships were very, very dangerous. People could have lost their lives. They will start to sort it out.
But, you know, there are four rescue operations going on right now that could be bringing in any thousands more people. And the ships just keep
coming.
Italy is increasingly overwhelmed as they try to figure out what to do with these people.
The borders with France and the border with Austria are very difficult to cross right now. So, Italy is trying its best to House and put them in
camps and reception centers and places where they can wait. But it is just a waiting game. Some people wait two or three years for their asylum
application to be heard before they even know where they might be able to go next.
ANDERSON: And so many, Barbie, don't make it. The International Organization of Migration say more than 3,000 killed or missing so far this
year alone. Has the EU at this stage worked out where it goes next so far as looking after these people who are effectively oftentimes being
trafficked. They pay thousands to do this journey.
NADEAU: No. The European Union has a lot of ideas, but at the end of the day, Italy and Greece are the ones that are really dealing with the crisis
firsthand and they are asking the European Union, please take some people, please provide what they you would like.
The Italians would like a safe corridor. We know these people are going to be making this dangerous journey. Provide a safe corridor.
If they know they are going to Germany then they would like Germany to provide that safe corridor, to France, fly people in to do something to
apply people in, to do something to make it so they don't have to risk their lives. That's one of the thing the Italians
have been so, so adamant that the European Union needs to do, but so far it falls on deaf ears.
The Italians are getting fed up with it, but they are a border country, that's what they have -- they have to deal with it.
[11:15:10] ANDERSON: Barbie, thank you.
Gripped by chaos, Libya has become an increasingly popular route for migrants, as you have been learning, as you saw on that map, amid the power
vacuum there ISIS has been trying to gain a foothold. But now Libyan troops lulled the UN backed government, say they have recaptured a key
neighborhood from ISIS in the city of Sirte, saying that the militants are now confined to just one district of that city. 10 Libyan troops were
killed in the fighting on Monday.
Still to come, the EU wants Apple to pay up billions in back taxes that it owes the -- they say owes the Irish government. So, why isn't Ireland on
board? I'll speak to an Irish economist later in the show.
And, amid the horror that is Aleppo, one man tries to see the beauty in the world. His story, a powerful one, is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON; Another Syrian town in ruins, and still littered with signs that ISIS once held sway. This is the town of Manbij, a couple of weeks after
U.S.-backed fighters recaptured it from the terror group.
You are watching CNN. This is Connect the World, with me, Becky Anderson. Welcome back.
When it comes to Syria, it's all too easy to become immune to the scenes of devastation and horror that fill our screens and scream alongside the
headlines every day.
Well, after more than five years even the words we use seem too stale and too small to describe what Syrians are going through. But at its most
basic, millions of people like you and me are trying to survive not just live, not just find shelter and food, trying to survive. They are trying
to keep their humanity, their humor, even their sense of beauty in a war that is so ugly.
In a corner of rebel-held Aleppo, channel 4 news and filmmaker Wad al- Khateb (ph) met one man who had found a way of doing just that and here is his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABU WARD, ALEPPO GARDEN CENTER: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
KRISHNAN GURU-MURTHY, BBC CHANNEL 4: He's called Abu Ward. It means father of the flowers. That is his young son, Ibrahim. For five years of
hellish war, this pocket of serenity has been perhaps the most amazing survivor in Aleppo.
Abu Ward runs the city's last garden center.
[11:20:13] ABU WARD (through translator): My place here is worth billions of dollars. I own the world. We ordinary people own the whole world. This
world is ours.
GURU-MURTHY: But Abu Ward's world is in rebel-held Aleppo, and it's been bombed relentlessly by the Syrian regime and now the Russians.
We met during a lull in the bombing earlier this year. Of the million people who lived in this part of the city, just 250,000 remained. And
throughout this time, Abu Ward hasn't stopped gardening.
ABU WARD (through translator): The sound of war is like Beethoven's music. We have become accustomed to this music. Without it we couldn't manage.
So we think of it as music now.
This one was hit by shrapnel from a barrel bomb. But it is still alive, thanks to god. (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GURU-MURTHY: Aleppo was one of the great cultural beauties of the world, and one of the longest inhabited. Today, so much of it has been laid
waste, and thousands have been killed. Defiantly amid all this, Abu Ward's whole existence seems dedicated to the beauty of life.
ABU WARD (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENITIFIED MALE (through translator): How much is it?
ABU WARD (through translator): 300.
GURU-MURTHY: This customer chooses rosemary plants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Take them to the roundabout where my car is.
ABU WARD: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GURU-MURTHY: Rosemary, not for remmbrance here, as much as resistance.
UNIDENITIFIED MALE (through translator): For us, making remembrances beautiful gives meaning to life. It motivates people. So we don't only
see destruction from the construction. We continue to live and rebui9ld that which has been destroyed.
GURU-MURTHY: Some Aleppans buy the flowers and plant them on roundabouts in the city, small islands of vitality, and surely a comfort to those who
by choice, or lack of it, remain in Aleppo, because to live here is to live every day with grief.
13-year-old Ibrahim gave up school to stay close to his dad. He helps in the garden center, but is clearly weighed down by the worries of war.
IBRAHIM (through translator): The customer Abdul Aziz used to buy flowers here, but now he is dead. But whoever wants to buy flowers is welcome
here. Sometimes it's people from the hospital who come here. And sometimes Free Syrian Army fighters come to buy flowers.
GURU-MURTHY: Freshly cut flowers in the middle of Aleppo's war seems too extraordinary to believe.
It didn't last. In the final days of May, six weeks after we met, the intense bombing by the Syrian regime and Russia began again. A bomb landed
near the garden center. Abu Ward was hit and died immediately. The nursery is closed. Nobody comes to buy flowers anymore.
And this is where Abu Ward, the gardener of Aleppo, is buried, with no blooms to decorate the
graves. Without his dad, Ibrahim seems lost.
IBRAHIM (through translator): What do you want me to do?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Your dad -- God rest him -- before he died, you were working with him?
IBRAHIM (through translator): Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): He (inaudible) care for your brothers, just like you did?
IBRAHIM (through translator): That's true.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): You knew something like this might happen?
[08:15:03] IBRAHIM (through translator): I know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): So what are you planning to do now?
IBRAHIM (through translator): I really don't know.
[11:25:01] GURU-MURTHY: In time, perhaps he will remember how this father described the cycle of life.
ABU WARD (through translator): The flower is finished now, but the new one can now start to grow. Flowers help the world, and there is no greater
beauty than flowers. Those who see flowers enjoy the beauty of the world created by God. And when you smell them they nourish the heart and the
soul. The essence of the world is a flower.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
ANDERSON: Well, resource rich Uzbekistan has courted both Washington and Russia. From Moscow, CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance
has more on big changes ahead it seems in a dictatorship that was once a U.S. ally. Just explain where things stand.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we don't actually know the state of affairs when it comes to Isalm Karimov's health care
move's health. Earlier the reports had been that he had died. That's subsequently been denied and certainly the latest statement from the
Kremlin, which is obviously the Russian government -- perhaps one of the closest governments to that of the very closed dictatorship of Uzbekistan says that as far as they
are concerned he is still alive but is ill. we have that statement from his daughter, Lola Karimova (ph), saying he had a brain hemorrhage. But
beyond that, we don't know his state of -- state of health. But clearly, Uzbekista, this country that's been essentially ruled since really 1989 by
Islam Karimov, he was appointed during the Soviet Union as the leader of that Soviet state and he never left office even after independence a couple
of years later, is on the brink, as it were, of major change with the potential change in its leadership. Of course, we'll have and see what
happens with the health of President Karimov, but if it turns out badly for him, then obviously, yeah, I mean, the success there will become the big
question.
[11:30:45] ANDERSON: And without making too many sort of guesses about who that might be. What are the consequences at this point?
CHANCE: Well, I think it's a big question mark, because it's been such an autocratic state for the past several decades. And no clear successor has
ever been anointed. And it's essentially run by this one figure with the use in extreme circumstances oftentimes of his security forces.
It's not entirely clear what will happen after President Karimov -- there has been civil unrest in
the past, of course, most notably in 2005 in the town of Andijan (ph) where hundreds of people were killed by Karimov's security forces when they took
part in a popular uprising. And since then, any popular discontent has been suppressed.
But this could be the opportunity, obviously, for that popular discontent about the economic situation and about poverty to resurface again.
ANDERSON: And just if you will, briefly, explain the relationship these days between Washington -- sorry Moscow and the Karimovs in Uzbekistan.
CHANCE: Well, I think to a certain extent, Islam Karimov has been playing the various powers off each other. And you can include China in that mix
as well as Washington and Moscow. It is a country that is at a strategic crossroads, I think it's fair to say, of all those countries' interests.
They have been useful to Washington because of the access that Uzbekistan has to Afghanistan. It's on the northern border of Afghanistan.
Of course, it's south of Moscow and is a former province of the Soviet Union. And of course China has a flowing influence in the central Asian
region as well.
And so President Karimov has been at -- gone to great lengths to try to play those powers off each other.
And so the hope in Moscow will certainly be that somebody with a more sympathetic view
towards the Moscow point of view will follow him.
ANDERSON: How likely is it that we will learn anything about his health any time soon? Is this a place that has closed down sort of media access?
CHANCE: Over the past several years, really since Andijan in 2005 and the massacre there, Karimov and Uzbekistan has really cracked down on the
journalistic community there. Foreign journalists have been expelled, independent media have been shut down. It's essentially a police state.
I went there a few years ago and every couple of hundred yards -- and I'm not exaggerating --
there are police checkpoints checking your identification, checking who they are. At the moment, reports that we're getting out of the capital of
Uzbekistan suggest everything is calm. There's an increased military presence around the hospital where President Karimov is in bed and is being
treated. And so, yeah, we don't know. We'd have to wait and see what comes out.
Constitutionally, the arrangements are that if the president should die, the head of the senate, the speaker of the senate, effectively rules the
country for a period of three months until a new president can be elected. But I think behind the scenes, there are probably lots of machinations
right now amongst the power brokers in Uzbekistan,, not least the head of the secret police and the wife of Karimov, Tatiana Karimova, to decide who
should be the most appropriate successor should he die.
ANDERSON: Matthew Chance is in Moscow. 6:34 in the evening there, 11:34 in the morning here on the east coast in the States.
Matthew, thank you for that. We are going to take a very short break. We'll be back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:36:40] ANDERSON: You are watching CNN. This is Connect the World with me, Becky Anderson. Welcome back.
Now the CEO of Apple is firing back over a ruling by European regulators. Apple has been ordered to pay back $14.5 billion in back taxes to Ireland.
And Tim Cook says the ruling has, quote, no basis in fact or law.
But the EU's commissioner for competition begs to differ. She says there is there are lots of reasons to do business in Europe, and avoiding taxes
isn't one of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARGRETHE WESTAGER, EU COMMISSIONER FOR COMPETITION: This is a question of how profit is distributed within a company, within Apple Sales
International, and Apple Operation Europe.
Between what is so cold head office, a head office that has no employees, no premises, no real activities, and yet the huge majority of profits is
attributed to this so-called head office, which only exists on paper and which doesn't pay any taxes.
So it is quite straightforward. And I think for all the businesses who pay their taxes, for all the citizens who pay their taxes, this is good news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Fighting words there.
Let's get to Ireland now and to economist and broadcaster David Williams joining me now via
Skype from Dublin.
David has also written several books about the Irish economy. Look, what Ireland's critics are saying is you can't have your cake and eat it, you
can't reap the whole benefit of EU membership, and in Ireland's case those have been massive over the past two decades and then choose to ignore the
rules if they don't suit.
Does that make sense?
DAVID WILLIAMS, ECONOMIST: Yeah, no, I think that's a fair point. But I do think that Ireland has a choice between the future, which is investing
and partnering with multinational countries, and the past, which is dealing with the legacy project that is the EU.
I mean, basically, multinational investment is going to go on whether Ireland plays a part in it or not. And the question is, is Ireland a
country right now that is facilitating tax avoidance or evasion, and is this going to change? My own opinion is that Ireland will win/win out of
this, because Ireland fights the appeal with Apple and wins, then we become the place of choice for American multinational investment.
If we lose, we are going to get 13 billion euros which is about 2,700 euros her head. So, the European commission, ironically, Becky, has given the
Irish government and the Irish people a fantastic opportunity, because on the one hand what it is saying is if you lose the appeal, ie, if Apple has
to say, you will get close to $3,000 per head population, which isn't a bad outcome.
If on the other hand, you win and if on the other hand, the European Union backs down, well then what you will find is that American multinational --
Becky, American multinationals are absolutely essential to Ireland's development and we are essential to them. We wouldn't have a capital base
without them.
ANDERSON: Right. Yeah, and I think that's the whole point about having the cake and -- hang on a minute, you tweeted a short while ago -- and I
think this is to your point, "thank the EU commission, win or lose, Ireland wins both ways."
But the consequences could be dire for Ireland, couldn't they, if other big U.S. corporations think, hang on a minute, this cozy relationship so far as
taxes concerned, is over, whether it's avoidance or evasion, whatever you want to call it. And they'd pull out. I mean, the worst case scenario is
we are talking about thousands of jobs correct.
WILLIAMS: I don't see that way at all. I mean, basically if you are a small country, you're always part, Becky, of somebody else's supply change,
OK. The notion that the nation state is all powerful and can set the terms of engagement with the globe is totally wrong.
So, Ireland is a small part of a global supply chain of Apple, of Microsoft, of Google,, of Facebook, all of these companies.
So, what we necessarily have to do is we have to keep ourselves being open to American foreign investment. The European Union, it must be said in
fairness, Becky, doesn't particularly like one of their member states to have one foot in Boston and another foot in Berlin.
ANDERSON: No. Because they say it's not fair. You can't have your cake and eat it is what they say.
WILLIAMS: Don't give me this argument of fairness, OK. What you basically have -- if it was a large European country that couldn't be bullied by the
European Union, this would never ever happen.
ANDERSON: OK
WILLIAMS: This is the way the European Union works. Now, unfortunately for us for a
long time, Becky, the European Union has had its sights on Ireland's corporation tax rates. So, that's the deal.
ANDERSON: OK.
WILLIAMS: So, we now have just go OK. They have their sites in the corporation tax base. This is the first salvo of what is going to be a war
between the corporate world and the nation state.
Now, the European Commission thinks it can arbitrate that war, it can referee in some ways. I am not that sure.
[11:41:49] ANDERSON: Right. You are saying good luck.
Let me just stop you, because I think what's really important here for our viewers who will be looking at this and saying, you know, what are the
consequences, I wonder whether Ieland at this point is looking at, you know, at least considering in principle, an Irexit like the Brexit we got
for the UK back in June, because if you don't want to play by the book and you think it's better news to cozy up to
big U.S. corporations -- because there is going to be a European spat with the U.S. corporations over this, there is going to be a Transatlantic spat
here. So, what do you think, is Irexit the next stage?
WILLIAMS: I think what you are saying is quite interesting. I think the European Commission has to be very careful. The mood all over Europe, all
over Europe, not just in Britain and France, even in Germany and to a small degree here in Ireland is one of let's saying a agnosticism towards the EU
and its motives.
Now, the fact that there's a Transatlantic spat means that a country like Ireland doesn't necessarily have to choose, it does have to play one off
against each other.
So, our model for development, Becky, is very much like a sort of a city- state from the Medieval ages. That you basically you have interests, those interests are largely Anglo-American. You have a political constellation,
which is largely European. And in a sense you try and play both off each other. You remain open to the Anglo world, because we speak English, we
have huge cultural links with the United States. We're very sympathetic, but we are open for business in Europe.
Now, I believe it is possible to actually ride those two horses. At the moment, the European commission has got its knickers in a twist, and that's
fine. We will go to the European Court of Justice. We will see if this is the beginning of a process where the European Commission goes after
multinational after multinational that has been in Ireland, but then can you imagine the windfall to the Irish public.
ANDERSON: No, I understand. We are going to to wind it down because I do have to take a break. But you are making some very, very good points. And
I think it does also put the UK's deal with Europe in play as that is organized around the whole Brexit deal that we know is fit to come in the
next two years.
Thank you for your analysis.
And before we take a break, the U.S. presidential race has been filled with insults and mud slinging from the start. But it's now taking an even
uglier turn as both sides accusethe other of bigotry and racism. Jason Carroll covering a number of developments today starting with a white
supremacist's unwanted endorsement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Accusations of racism leading to more personal attacks on the campaign trail.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: People will look at that and say, you seem desperate.
CARROLL: Donald Trump's campaign manager hitting back at Hillary Clinton's running-mate for remarks he made last week, linking Trump to former Ku Klux
Klan grand wizard David Duke.
SEN. TIM KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENT CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is pushing their values, Ku Klux Klan values, David Duke values.
CONWAY: In the case of Tim Kaine, I mean, we expect the rough and tumble politics, the lies from Hillary Clinton, her folks. But Tim Kaine, you've
been a mayor, a senator, a governor, you're running for vice president, Harvard Law degree and you stoop so low that you are making these
allegations. And I think it is going to backfire.
[11:45:04] CARROLL: But Duke, who is running for a Senate seat in Louisiana is promoting Trump in robo-calls for his Louisiana Senate campaign.
DAVID DUKE, FORMER IMPERIAL WIZARD OF THE KU KLUX KLAN: It's time to stand up and vote for Donald Trump for president and vote for me, David Duke for
the U.S. Senate.
CARROLL: Trump had been criticized for not disavowing Duke's endorsement quickly enough during the primary. Trump's campaign did quickly disavow the
robo-calls in a statement and on CNN.
KATRINA PIERSON, NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: It's absolutely disturbing the Trump campaign has no knowledge of the campaign that David
Duke is running and we have disavowed David Duke and don't condone any of the activities that he's doing.
CARROLL: At a fundraise in the Hamptons, Clinton saying Duke Senate bid is a by-product of Trump dog whistles to racist voters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody knows how well he is going and how his embrace of Trump and Trump's acceptance of him could out that man, that despicable
man, in the Senate of the United States.
CARROLL: This is as Trump supporter Pastor Mark Burns apologized after tweeting this photo of Hillary Clinton in black face, mocking her outreach
to black voters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last thing I want to do is to offend people.
CARROLL: Meanwhile, the Republican nominee seizing on the latest sexting scandal surrounding the husband of long-time Hillary Clinton adviser Huma
Abedin.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: She is married to a guy that is uncontrolled and uncontrollable.
CARROLL: Abedin announcing her separation from disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner after The New York Post published suggested pictures he
allegedly sent to another woman with his child lying next to him. Something people close to the family tells CNN left Abedin furious and sickened.
Trump using the opportunity to slam Clinton's quote, "bad judgment."
TRUMP: He's a sick person and, you know, she has access to classified information. To think that is very likely that much of this information
Anthony Weiner would know about. And I think it's something that was terrible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: All right.
Let's get some perspective on the race from Ashley Bell. He is a senior strategist and national director of African-American engagement for the
Republican National -- the convention -- Committee. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.
Let's just kick off there with something that came up in that report. The pastor's tweet that has outraged Hillary Clinton supporters. Mark Burns, a
Trump supporter, has repeatedly apologized for tweeting this cartoon. Let's bring it up guys. It shows Clinton in black
face, and casts her as pandering to appearance.
He, though, stands by his message. Although he did say he regretted his methodology. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PASTOR MARK BURNS, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: The message is simply this, I believe that the Democrat Party has been using the black vote, that black
voting bloc, and because the Democrat Party already knows they own that voting bloc, the promises that are being made to the
African-American community are not being carried out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The simple truth here, sir, is that Trump is failing -- the Republicans are failing under the auspices of Mr. Trump to court black
voters, aren't they. The NBC poll found him polling t just 8 percent support. What happens next?
ASHLEY BELL, DIR.OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN ENGAGMENT, RNC: Let me tell you , Mark Burns is a good man. And I'm glad he apologized. We all to want to
stay focused on the issues.
When you weigh both candidates by their deeds, more so than just the rhetoric and the talking points of the day, Donald Trump comes out ahead
every time. 6 percent is a better than Mitt Romney did. We have a long way to go, but I can tell you this, Donald Trump is talk directly to black
voters. That's something Mitt Romney didn't do. So, I'm glad to see the Republican nominee directly
addressing African-American voters and their concerns.
ANDERSON: So, polling at 8 percent, you don't think is a problem?
BELL: Well, no. You always want to do better, but historically let's look at Mitt Romney, who had 6, John McCain had had 4 percent. Donald Trump...
ANDERSON: None of them won the election, did they? That's the point.
BELL: Well, I will say this, when you have 8 percent and you are climbing, when you were at zero let's say a month ago, we're headed in the right
direction. We're turning in the right directino.
And here's the point, what African-American voters in this country are understanding is that their checks have bounced so many times that they got
from the Democratic Party the last three or four decades.
You know, when they try to paint Donald Trump as someone who is out of touch, I say go back and look at Jesse Jackson's speech that he gave in
1999 referring to Donald Trump as one of the great builders of our time, someone who has hired many African-American builders and construction
workers in New York City to build some of the greatest parts of the New York landscape.
This is someone he has been a staple of inclusion and diversity. And I think that's going to ring home with black voters and you are going to
continue to see that number rise.
ANDERSON: So, you are not in the Republican camp who say that Donald Trump is irreversibly damaging the party?
BELL: You know what I like about Donald Trump is he is relentless. He is relentlessly going after the black vote in the a way that we haven't seen
done before. So, the first part is are you dedicated to trying? And I think that everyone agrees that he is continually trying to find
opportunities and ways of connecting with black voters. He's continually reaching out.
So, you can't win if you don't try. And I think that's where Republicans have failed in the past, is that we didn't try. So, I'm glad to see him
trying. I'm glad to see him reaching out. And I think when you look at his plans one by one and you compare them against the Clinton's failed
policy -- you've got to remember, Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton were responsible for the largest mass incarceration of
African-Americans in our country in our history. So, when you weigh them on the scales of justice, they come out wanting every single time.
ANDERSON: Taking on a project that was set up by Ronnie Reagan, of course, before the Clintons. But anyway, you're making a very good point.
Donald Trump weighing in on one of the most talked about controversies in America right
now. And this is for our international viewers sake, an NFL quarterback's refusal to stand during the National Anthem. Trump says the football
player should, quote, "find a country that works better for him."
Now, the football player himself says he is protesting racial injustice in America. Trump calls his protest a terrible thing.
Freedom of speech and the right to protest are some of the most sacred liberties in America of
course. Why should this football player who is exercising his right have to find another country briefly?
BELL: Well, look I think Donald Trump's message is this: he supports the men and women of our military, he supports everything America stands for.
And there is people fighting right now all across this country with the American flag to give that football player that right. That is his first
amendment speech right.
But there's so much that goes -- there's so much blood and treasure have been shed across this globe to make sure Americans have that right. And
Donald Trump is reflecting that. But he also understands that, you know what, this is a great country. We may not be perfect, but we are always in
the pursuit of perfection, and that's what makes America great.
ANDERSON: It's been a pleasure having you on, sir, thank you.
Live from CNN Center, this is Connect the World. Still to come today, to millions of us he was Willie Wonka. The late Gene Wilder was that and so
much more. We look back at his life and career next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: And for generations of us, that's exactly where he took us, to a world of pure imagination.
Sadly, veteran comedian and actor Gene Wilder has passed away. He was 83 years old, but for many of us he will live on as any number of his
marvelous characters, and perhaps above all as a wonderful person himself.
We look at the life and legacy of Gene Wilder for today's Parting Shots.
UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: Willie Wonka has left this world
But actor Gene Wilder leaves it changed with his performances from his Oscar nominated role in The Producers.
GENE WILDER, ACTOR: But under the right circumstances, a producer could make more money with a flop than he could with a hit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To his other Oscar nominated role in Young Frankenstein.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dr. Frankensteen.
WILDER: Frankenstein. You must be Igor.
UNIDENITIFIED MALE: No, it's pronounced I-gor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wilder died at the age of 83 from complications of Alzheimer's, though his nephew said it never stole his ability to recognize
those closest to him. He was an actor who painted watercolors, married four times, including to SNL great, Gilda Radner. Wilder's last wife Karen
survives him.
Legendary director Mel Brooks tweeting, "one of the truly great talents of our time. He blessed every film we did with his magic and he blessed me
with his friendship."
Wilder blazed his way through three Brooks comedies, multiple films with Richard Pryor and countless other projects. But he'll always remain the
ultimate candyman.
A toast to your imagination Gene Wilder. You'll live in ours.
WILDER: Don't forget to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted.
BOY: What happened?
WILDER: He lived happily ever after.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[11:55:54] ANDERSON: Well, before we go today, an update on the Parting Shots that we brought you earlier on this week. On Sunday, we told you
about Dubai's ruler who was none too pleased with what his surprise inspection of government offices revealed: a whole load of empty chairs.
It seems many of the managers were tardy.
Well, he has now ordered the retirement of nine officials whose names have been published in papers across the United Arab Emirates. A country of
course which is normally our home.
If you want to know more about this story and others, head to our Facebook page at Facebook.com/CNNconnect. We have been out of New York last week
out of the east coast here in Atlanta at CNN Center this week. I'm Becky Anderson. That was Connect the
World. Thank you for watching.
END
