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HNC Issues Blueprint for Peace; Syrians Lack Trust; Paralympic Runup Fraught with Problems; Oil Experts Expect Oil to Hold at $50; African Start-up Top Dog Education. Aired 11:00a-12:00p ET

Aired September 07, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:00:13] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to really protect human rights. We want Syria for all -- you know, for all Syrians -- for Arab, for Kurds, for

Christians, for Muslims.

(END VIDEO CLIP

BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Syria's opposition lays out its peace plan in London. But the reality on the ground makes an end to the war seem far

from reach. My interview with Syria's opposition spokesman is coming up this hour.

And Donald Trump expected to unveil his national security plan. We'll bring you that live when it happens.

Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): God willing, the service will be better this season.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Saudi Arabia prepares for the Hajj season. After last year's tragedy, we look at how the country is stepping up security.

Hello. And welcome to Connect the World. Just after 7:00 here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson.

Air strikes, destruction, casualties, the all too familiar refrain in Syria in just the past 24 hours

alone we have seen more horrific attacks across the country. In Aleppo, one person reported killed and more than 100 people hospitalized in what

activists say was yet another chemical attack on a rebel-held neighborhood.

In Idlib, activists say air strikes hit an oil factory setting it ablaze and killing at least three people, seven are injured. Outside of Homs,

activists say four bombs dropped in a town north of the city. Luckily, no deaths or injuries reported, but there is severe damage on the ground.

And if that were not enough, in Hamaa Province, the UN now says fighting has displaced some

100,000 people in a week, 100,000 people in a week, that is 20,000 families.

I want to get back to that reported chemical attack in Aleppo and let the pictures speak for themselves.

The horror in a conflict now raging for five-and-a-half years. Just imagine. As that happens in Syria, thousands of kilometers away in London,

the British government is hosting Syria's main political opposition group, the high negotiations committee, as it's known, is going to lay out what

they want to see happen in Syria, topping their jam packed wishlist, getting rid of this man: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Well, their

demands are mostly academic, it has got to be said, because only people already on board with them will be at the table: Saudi Arabia, the United

States,Turkey, and others.

But key players won't even be in the room in London. Russia, the Syria government itself, and not even the UN, and it is almost impossible to

imagine anything meaningful happening in Syria without these guys.

So, while some diplomats sip coffee at what are typically lavish meetings pondering over hypothetical political scenarios, as we saw a few moments

ago, Syrians are stuck in a death trap.

CNN's Arwa Damon has the latest on the violence across Syria for us. She is in Istanbul this hour. And Nic Robberson is to us foreign office in

London where that meeting is taking place.

Arwa, to you first. Just explain to our viewers the horror of what's going on on the ground.

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, when you talk to Syrians themselves they really don't know what else to say. They really

don't know how to put what they are going through into words. They have spent the last five and a half years, as you were highlighting there in

that introduction, trying to show the world that their plight putting out video after video of the horrors that are being inflicted upon them.

And it seems, as one would have to surmise from the lack of concrete reaction and solution, that either the world doesn't care or despite the

fact that this is happening on all of our watch, no one wants to do what it takes.

You spoke about that chemical attack that happened in the neighborhood of Sukkuri (ph) Aleppo, those images of children struggling to breathe. Aide

individuals on the ground trying to get assistance to them, to the adults.

And let's also remember, Becky, that this isn't happening in an area where you have access to adequate medical facilities where parents know that

once their children reach the hospital they will be properly taken care of. These are happening in eastern Aleppo, which means that most of the medical

facilities have been driven underground, because they have been deliberately targeted in the past, where medical facilities are running on

generators, that are reliant on diesel, which is in extremely short supply because this part of the city has been put under siege once again by

government forces.

And you don't get to survive an attack and then breathe a sigh of relief that you are still alive because it happens over and over again. That

chemical gas attack happened yesterday. Today, in the very same neighborhood, Becky, there were numerous air strikes that killed at least

ten people and wounded another 40. And we also have images of children being treated who were injured those air strikes that took place today,

heart breaking images of toddlers covered in small shrapnel wounds.

You can hear that child crying there, too young to really understand what is happening, all they know is that they are in pain, parents unable to

protect their children from this kind of violence.

And these are not isolated incidents. These happen every single day in Syria, Becky.

ANDERSON: Stand by, Arwa. I want to play our viewers my interview with the HNC spokesman, Salam al-Mislet in just a few minutes. But I want to

read you something he told the Guardian newspaper saying, quote, "the only way to a lasting solution is through political transition, through the

United Nations, that is transition from state terrorism to a country governed according to a social contract for all the Syrian people."

I want to bring you in here, Nic.

Bearing in mind the UN isn't even there in London today, does the HNC really talk for and on

behalf of all Syrians? Surely one of the reasons Assad is still around is sadly because he still has a loyal base.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He has a loyal base but what swung the campaign in his favor and has put his loyal base to a

position where they feel that they have some strength is the support of Russia that turned a military

offensive and his failures and losses in the battlefield -- turned it around such that they continue to believe -- and apparently they

continue to believe that far better than politics is a military tactics on the ground to continue to take more territory, that includes Aleppo, that

includes many other parts of the country.

So it is with the backing of Russia, with the backing of Iran, that Assad and his supporters, the international community, believes he can continue

in this fight. And that's what the HNC is saying here.

And while the UN may not be in the room, what you are hearing from the HNC is an absolute echo with detail of precisely what was laid out in UN

security council resolution 2254 in December, late December last year. And what was -- what came to the negotiating table in Geneva, that is six

months of negotiations followed by political transition, followed by local government and then presidential elections.

So, what the HNC is articulating here what the UN has already articulated. They give it more detail, more specificity, and a mechanism to achieve it.

It's a 25 page document. But what they are trying to do is to get the international community to put that pressure on Russia, on Iran, so that

they can put that pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to realize there isn't a military option. It's a political option.

And the reality as things stand at the moment is that message is just not being listened to by Russia and Iran.

ANDERSON: Arwa, without Russia, the Syrian government itself or even the Un in the room, many experts say this is jaw jaw as war war continues.

For those Syrians who aren't displaced, do they care what's being said behind closed doors in London today? Do they trust anybody?

DAMON: No. They don't. I mean, trust ran out a long time ago. There was never a lot of trust

amongst those who oppose the regime because they feel as if at every opportunity Assad's forces have continued to deliberately target them, to

target them even in the very beginning at the onset when they were going out and peacefully demonstrating against the government.

There's also a serious trust deficit when it comes to what the international community is going to do and what global leaders are going to

do, even the U.S., says that it supports these moderate rebels as the American administration likes to call them, vetted rebel groups.

There is no trust amongst the vast majority of Syrians that we speak to when it comes to the United

States, because in this perspective, the U.S. hasn't lived up to any of its pledges. First and foremost of those examples is the fact that back in

August of 2013, if you will remember, we had the first significant chemical attack that

took place in the Damascus suburb of Ruttah (ph) where hundreds of people, if not upwards of 1,000

were killed. That was technically speaking the U.S.'s red line that there was crossed.

And I clearly remember speaking to activists in that area who on the one hand running around trying to save lives on the other hand they were asking

if something so horrible has happened to us, we have been attacked by chemical weapons, the American president said this was a red line, doesn't

this now mean that someone will take some sort of action to stop this from happening to us again?

Well, it won't be happening to us again? Well, it did happen over and over. And the situation in the last three years since that first chemical

-- a significant chemical attack in August of 2013 has only gotten worse.

So, how truly can anyone, Becky, expect the Syrians to have trust in anyone at this stage?

[11:11:32] ANDERSON: And Nic, in one article I wrote today in the lead up to this meeting -- one of the journalist wrote, and I quote, "the plan is

likely to be dismissed as a pipe dream in view of the battles and sieges raging across Syria at present as well as the apparent unwillingness of

Russia to use its influence with Assad to end his destructive air bombardment.

Your thoughts?

ROBERTSON: Well, certainly it can be seen as a pipe dream, something that can be taken down off the shelf and dusted off and brought closer to

reality if and when political talks do become engaged, which seems ultimately that is what will happen because ultimately

that is what happens after military conflicts run their course and there's no brakes on it.

There is a possibility of that.

The support here from the British foreign minister, French, Italian, Qatari, Saudi foreign ministers, Turkish foreign ministers, they are not

endorsing, if you will, what the HNC is saying. They say they are encourage it, they're giving it a forum to be heard.

So there is clear support for it, but there is no leverage at all to make it anything more than that pipe dream, as you say.

And I think what with -- if what was read in some of the Russian media is an indication of what the Russian government is thinking, and often people

make that correlation, they are already saying that what the HNC is saying in its document actually breaks what was agreed at the UN rather than

amplified what was agreed at the UN.

So already the early indications are that it's not just being called a pipe dream, it's being called a broken plan, erroneous. The HNC see it not as a

blueprint for a final end, they see it as a starting point, something that is a dynamic document that can be changed over time.

The reality is, by the time it does guess discussed, it will probably need some significant

more changes -- Becky.

ANDEROSN: Nic is in London. Arwa is in Istanbul. We thank you both.

A civil war tears at the heart of a country because ordinary people are so often in the way

of the bullets.

The UN's Syria envoy has estimated some 400,000 Syrians have lost their lives in its

civil war, that in just more than five years of fighting.

Compare that to Lebanon's civil war. It dragged on for almost three times as long, and most estimates reckon around 150,000 people died.

And in the civil war that erupted in Sudan, for example, in 2013 as of March, a senior UN official said 50,000 have been killed.

Too many, of course. Too many. Too many people dying in conflicts, and far too many of them are in Syria.

Right, we're waiting for Donald Trump to give a speech any minute now on national security -- U.S. national security. The Republican presidential

candidate is expected to unveil plans for a major investment in defense spending. He is trying to make the case that he would be the best

commander-in-chief of one of the world's most powerful militaries.

He now has the endorsement of 88 retired generals and admirals. But he raised eyebrows yesterday by saying he would give military leaders a quote,

simple instruction, if he becomes president: come up with a plan in 30 days to soundly and, quote, quickly, defeat ISIS.

Let's bring in CNN political commentator Doug Heye while we wait for Trump to begin speaking. You are a Republican strategist but you are not a Trump

supporter.

Donald Trump says he has a secret plan himself to defeat ISIS, to which his opponent

Hillary Clinton says, I quote, the secret is that he has no plan.

So, should we expect to hear a plan, or will he be leaving that to the generals, do you think?

[11:15:45] DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think we will hear broad frameworks but not a lot of specifics. It we haveseen any constant from

the Trump campaign, whether over the last month or the last year, it is that specifics have been lacking. But ultimately it has not hurt Donald

Trump. One of the frustrating things or fascinating things, depending on your perspective, is

that Donald Trump is able to talk to broad brush strokes and it connects to a large segment of certainly Republican voters and a large segment of the

American population right now.

What we will see is between his remarks and Hillary Clinton's remarks who is really going to

get the better of that argument. And right now, Donald Trump is going to talk about being strong, and that always plays to his benefit.

ANDERSON: Well, of course Hillary Clinton also scheduled to speak on national defense later today.

We know that she has something, 112,000 words on her website so far as policy is concerned, to Donald Trump's -- is it 9,000? What do you think

her plan will be as laid out today?

HEYE: Well, certainly, the devil is in the details, or in Trump's case, the devil is in the lack of details. Hillary Clinton will lay out -- and

one thing that's interesting is there is a commonality between the two of getting rid of the sequester level funding, which has lowered

defense spending.

The problem for Donald Trump is he has talked about lowering it in the past, now he wants to raise it. Hillary Clinton, she will talk about the

specifics, what she has done in the past and how that will inform her in the future.

She will also talk about having board supporter of military voters. We just saw our military leaders supporting her. We just saw over the past

couple of weeks that Henry Kissinger and George Schultz, two obviously very prominent Republican and former secretaries of state have declined to

endorse, that's seen as a victory for Hillary Clinton.

She will draw on things like that to say she is the one who has the real temperament to be president. I'd look for Hillary Clinton totalk more

about temperament than just necessarily specific policies.

ANDERSNO: Right, she is going to have to draw on something, isn't she, because the CNN poll out yesterday shows a tie as far as the voters are

concerned. In fact, if you look at the poll with one eye open as it were, you could say that Trump were ahead.

Why can't -- I know you are no fan of either Hillary or Donald Trump, but but why can't she put

Trump away at this point?

HEYE: Well, I don't think she can put Trump away because of Trump's ability to dominate media coverage, and one of the things that we've seen

is whenever there has been a bad story for Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump has come along and basically covered up the bad story for Clinton. He has

done her favors.

But he dominates all media coverage.

But I'll tell you just last week I was in the battleground state of North Carolina, my home state. And what I saw on the county level, Republican

headquarters that aren't necessarily enthusiastic about Trump, which means they are not going to be knocking on the doors or making the phone calls at

the same level that Hillary clinton will. She has that organization, not just in North Carolina, where she is organized throughout the state, but

also throughout the country.

She is planning on early voting to target her voters to get them out early, make sure they return

the ballots. Those are mechanism the Trump campaign just doesn't have.

And certainly there has been an unpredictable year, but if campaign and campaign mechanics don't matter then Hillary Clinton should be with no real

problem on election day and moving into election day. Of course, we also have a few debates coming up. That's going to be another opportunity

for Donald Trump to really tr and throw Hillary Clinton off her game.

ANDERSON: Sure.

Watch this space. Trump is late. We were expecting him at the top of the hour. So we will get back to the room, which is ready for him, as and when

he hits the stage.

Doug, pleasure. Thank you.

HEYE: Thank you.

ANDERSON: Viewers, still to come, the spokesman for Syria's main opposition tells me why his group thinks it's realistic that President

Bashar al-Assad must go even as major powers like Russia and Iran show little sign of softening their support for him.

And Saudi Arabia runs security drills in preparation for the annual Hajj. Safety, a main concern after last year's deadly stampede.

And Riyadh says keeping the faithful safe is paramount.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:22:10] ANDERSON: You are watching CNN. This is Connect the World with me, Becky Anderson, 22 minutes past 7:00 in the UAE where we broadcast

from. Welcome back.

U.S. President Barack Obama is pledging to help Laos emerge from what he calls the shadow of war. In the country, he met with victims who were

injured by U.S. munitions dropped in a covert operation decades ago.

Well, Michelle Kosinski explains how those munitions are still causing injuries, and how President Obama wants to help.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This part of President Obama's trip has been historic. He is the first sitting U.S. president to

visit Laos, to try to build this relationship after the Vietnam War. So he wanted to make sure he spent some real time here.

Today, we saw him sit down with victims of those U.S. bombs from Vietnam that are still on the ground here and still explode.

He got a chance to hold a townhall meeting with young Southeast Asian leaders. And that gave him another chance to do what he likes to do and

talk up the TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, that huge trade deal with Asia that he sees as what's supposed to be the jewel in the crown of his

rebalance to Asia.

There are plenty of Republicans, even, in congress who agree with him on that, but congress won't take this up. He saved some words for them as

well. Listen.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe that we'll get it done. But it's always going to be hard. Nothing is easy in the U.S.

Congress right now. Maybe there was a time when it was, but I haven't seen it. It sure hasn't been easy since I've been president, all right. But

we'll -- eventually we'll get it done.

KOSINSKI: So what about President Obama in 2016? You know, we really haven't seen very much of him. He did that one event in Charlotte shortly

after he endorsed Hillary Clinton. And he was there with her. Then there were two fundraisers, but that's been it. A White House source tells us he

wants to get back out on the trail. He sees the enormous stakes involved here. He sees the poll numbers obviously. He wants to make his point

again that he feels Hillary Clinton is the only one qualified to be president of the United States.

This month, though, is going to be tough, not just because of this trip that we're already on, but the UN general assembly coming up. So he has

one event planned for next week in Philadelphia, there's a fundraiser in New York. That leaves October, though, there have been reports that he's

going to spend virtually the entire month out on the trail. But we are told that that's going to be difficult. He doesn't have that kind of time. But

expect to see much more of him on the trail then.

Michelle Kosinski, CNN, Vientiane, Laos.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSNO: You are watching Connect the World only on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[11:28:54] ANDERSON: The run up to the Paralympic Games get underway in about five hours in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The runup to the event, I'm

afraid, has been marred by poor ticket sales, by budget cuts, and the closure of facilities.

Russia's entire team was banned due to allegations of doping. But the games could still be a

success.

A leading official said 60 percent -- 6-0 percent of tickets to the events had been sold as of

Tuesday.

Well, Shasta Darlington joining me now live from Rio with more on what we can expect from the games -- Shasta?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Becky. Now we talked to the presidential of the International Paralympic Committee

who called these the most troubled lead up to any games he has ever been involved in with just a couple of weeks out.

He found out that there were serious financial problems thanks to small ticket sales, just 13 percent of tickets had been sold. They were going to

have to splash the budget, that affected venues, some of the competitions were being shifted to different venues. They also had to scale back on

seating and staffing. This is what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:30:00] PHILIP CRAVEN, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE: It's been a little bit tumultuous, I would think. You know, it was six

weeks ago we didn't know how deep the difficulties were. We soon found out. And then we started working with the organizing committee with the

federal government and with the city putting things right.

(END VIDE OCLIP)

DARLINGTON: Now in the end that meant that the local and federal government had to come in with a bail out package worth about $77 million,

but that's still pretty far short of what they had promised.

The good news is that ticket sales picked up, enthusiasm really started to grow here in Brazil for the Paralympic games. This is a country without

much Olympic tradition, but since the end of the Olympics when just 13 percent of tickets had been sold to now, 60 percent of tickets have been

sold, that's 1.5 million tickets.

The torch is here in Rio de Janiero after traveling around five different cities. People are getting excited. The kids of course are back in

school. They were out for the Olympics. And they are talking about school trips there. So, you can really feel the enthusiasm growing which is great

news for the Paralympic games, about to start with the opening ceremony this evening -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Which is fantastic news given the backdrop. Dilma Rousseff vacating the presidential palace earlier on, the economy in the clapper, as

it were. Good to feel that Rio is still on the up as it were, Shasta.

DARLINGTON: Exactly. These are unusual times. Today is actually Brazilian independence day. So it was the first public appearance of

Brazil's new president, Michel Temer. He was sworn in less than a week ago right after Dilma Rousseff was impeached. He was of course her vice

president up until fairly recently. So he appeared to watch the military parade for Brazil's independence today, but he did not take a ride in the

antique open convertible that presidents usually use, instead he was in a closed sedan, a sign of concern over the growing protests.

He was greeted by some protesters shouting "down with Temer." There have been protests building throughout the country today, throughout cities,

none of them particularly big but certainly making their presence heard and felt. At the same time others at the military parade shouting down with

communists and showing support for him.

What it does show is that the political tensions are far from over, Becky.

ANDERSON: Shasta Darlington is in Rio. Preparations well underway.

We are also waiting on Donald Trump to speak. You will see that in the box there. And when he starts, we'll get you to him.

Millions of Muslims, meantime,around the world are getting ready for the annual Hajj, the

pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia which begins on Saturday.

Safety a major concern this year. A stampede killed hundreds, some say thousands, of pilgrims in 2015.

Many of the victims were Iranian. And tensions remain high between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Here is my colleague, Michael Holmes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saudi security forces ready for action in response to a disaster in Mecca. But this isn't the real

thing. It is a drill in preparation for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Saudi officials say they are taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of

the pilgrims this month.

MAJ. GEN. MUHAMMAD AL AHMADI, SAUDI SPECIAL FORCES FOR SECURITY (through translator): We are really ready to serve the guests and providing the most

extreme levels of security of their arrival in the country until they leave.

HOLMES: Authorities say they are taking no chances following last year's stampede in which Riyadh said more than 700 people died. But according to

counts of countries that repatriated bodies, the death toll could have been more than 2,000.

This strained relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. More than 460 of those killed were Iranians. Tehran has already barred its citizens from

participating in this year's pilgrimage. Iran's supreme leader has suggested Muslim countries consider ending ownership of the Hajj. Riyad

accusing Iran of trying to politicize the event and compromise safety.

(SHOUTING)

HOLMES: Each pilgrim is being given an electronic bracelet and there are more surveillance cameras, all intended to avoid a repeat of last year. But

those measures are being criticized by Khomeini. In a statement on his website, he accused the Saudis of collaborating with, quote, "spy agencies

of the U.S. and the Zionist regime" to make what he calls, quote, "the divine sanctuary" unsafe for everyone.

The Saudis believe the new measures are already working. More than a million people arrived this week amid tight security.

The Red Crescent Society also getting involved, saying it's using lessons from last year's disaster.

[11:35:17] UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): God willing, the service will be better this season and this season we consider it very hot,

as you can see. So we have made good preparation for sun stroke cases.

HOLMES: Michael Holmes, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Right.

Let's follow the money for you. Saudi Arabia now bracing itself for another budget overhaul. The world's biggest exporter is rethinking some of

its spending habits as oil continues to trade below the $50 mark, that is less than half of what it was selling for just over two years ago.

The fact that there is no recovery in sight for the oil market is prompting the kingdom to prepare for further cuts. And CNN Money's emerging markets

editor John Defterios joining me now in the studio.

What are we learning? How severe are these cuts? We're talking about an awful lot of money here.

JOHN DEFTERIOS: Yeah, we are talking about a lot of money. And Becky, this is round two, because we saw this in 2015. If you look at what we're

hearing from out of Riyadh tonight, they're expecting lower for longer as in $50 a barrel or lower. This is being driven by the deputy crown prince.

Muhammed bin Salman. And there is kind of three key factors that we're hearing right now

First and foremost, a cut of 25 percent across ministries. Not all ministries -- they're asking some ministries to cut their budgets over the

next year by 25 percent. Re-evaluate some 200 projects, if not more. That number could even double over the next year, because of the big spending

that we saw when we ahd triple digit oil, $100 a barrel or more. And then at least, at least from the sources I'm talking to in Saudi Arabia, $20

billion of additional cuts.

Now, there's a good reason for this. They have burned through just over $180 billion since the peak of oil in June 2014. So there is a lot of

pressure. I spoke to John Ciafinakis (ph) of the Gulf Research Center who is a former sherpa of the G20 for the finance ministry

there and he was saying Saudi Arabia hasn't always had a great track record on delivering on the ministerial budgets. So, they are saying now the

deputy crown prince is saying is going and saying you put forward a budget for 2015, didn't hit that number. 2016 and 2017, we actually want to see

you deliver the cuts.

Now, the downside of this is very hard to grow in this retrenchment market. He is expecting growth of 1 percent in terms of GDP for this year. All of

that, Becky, coming from the oil sector, the non-oil sector has almost ground to a halt because they canceled so many construction projects, but

the budget deficit that was at 16 percent of GDP in 2015 is coming down to 9 percent. So, he is instilling the deputy crown prince some discipline in

this economy. although it's a painful transition.

ANDERSON: How does the squabble amongst the major oil giants like Saudi, Iran and Russia play into all of this?

DEFTERIOS: The question is freeze or not to freeze.

ANDERSON: This is the question.

DEFTERIOS: And the multibillion dollar question right now. And it surfaced earlier this week at the G20 meeting when we saw Khalid al-Faleh

of Saudi Arabia and Alexander Novak of Russia, they actually signed a cooperation agreement, said they have a great deal of trust built amongst

themselves. But the bottom line is they didn't agree to a freeze. And this resurfaced the old rivalries within OPEC right now. And the rivalries

are with Bijan Zangeneh on the left of the screen and Khalid al-Faleh on the right.

The Iranians are basically suggesting we need some more breathing room here to rebuild our production before the sanctions. They're now including

Libya, because of the conflicts that we've seen there and also Nigeria.

The Saudi Arabian position is we'll go along with a freeze if all countries join along. So the split that we had in April in Doha is back on the table

tonight. Now the secretary general who was on the phone with in Tehran had a meeting with President Rouhani last night. President Rouhani actually

ratcheted up a little bit saying it's vital for the country to make up for its lost oil production. They're at about 3.8 million barrels a day right

now, Becky. They want to get to 4 million barrels a day by the end of the year. This is the wiggle room for negotiation, but a source that I spoke

to that was actually involved in the talks in Iran said they have another twist to the debate right now. We don't want to just

just freeze production if Libya, Nigeria and Iran need to make up for the production right now the other

players should think about cutting.

And they are getting support from Algerian, Nigeria and Angola, countries that have been really suffering like Venezuela over the last couple of

years.

ANDERSON: And viewers, if you keep your eye on this oil markets, and they are incredibly important, the next big meeting, of course, in Algeria at

the back end of September.

DEFTERIOS: 26th, 27th, they are going to all try to come around this idea of a freeze or they go further. It's a big question.

ANDERSON: Freeze...

DEFTERIOS: ...or not to freeze -- good to see you.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

[11:40:03] Right. As we wait for Donald Trump to speak on national security, there is another controversy for Donald Trump brewing. Florida's

attorney general says a campaign contribution from Donald Trump had nothing to do with her dropping an investigation into his univeristy.

My colleague Drew Griffin explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF FLORIDA: It is my great honor to introduce to you...

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Florida's attorney general Pam Bondi is a huge supporter of Donald Trump.

BONDI: ...the next president of the United States of America, Donald Trump.

GRIFFIN: Bondi is also the Florida attorney general. Whose office decided not to pursue a case against Donald Trump and the decision was made almost

exactly at the same time Trump made a $25,000 donation to Pam Bondi's political PAC.

TRUMP: I've just known Pam Bondi for years. I have a lot respect for her. Never spoke to her about that at all.

GRIFFIN: Trump on his plane this weekend denies any connection. Pam Bondi also forcefully denies any connection, calling it bullying by the Clinton

campaign.

BONDI: I will not be collateral damage in a presidential campaign, nor will I be a woman bullied by Hillary Clinton.

GRIFFIN: So what did happen? Here are the facts. Pam Bondi took office in 2011. Trump University was already out of business. Prior to her taking

office, Florida's attorney general's office received 20 complaints against Trump Institute, a business affiliated with Trump, but it too was out of

business.

Since Pam Bondi took office, up until the decision was made, Florida received just one complaint against Trump University. According to a

spokesman for Florida's attorney general, it wasn't enough to justify Florida filing suit. Instead, staff doing due diligent, reviewed the

complaints and the New York litigation and made the proper determination that the New York litigation would provide relief to aggrieved consumers

nationwide.

In other words, Floridians could join New York's lawsuit. The spokesman also told CNN Pam Bondi had nothing to do with it. The decision was made by

staff. In fact, the spokesman says Pam Bondi didn't even know there were complaints against Trump. But around the same time, the Florida attorney

general's office was deciding to not pursue a case against Trump. Pam Bondi was pursuing Donald Trump himself for a political donation. It was

September of 2013. Trump's Foundation donated $25,000 to Bondi's Political Action Committee. Bondi's attorney general's office never pursued the case.

Did one follow the other? Pam Bondi, again today on "Fox Business News," says no.

BONDI: Of course I asked Donald Trump for a contribution. That's not what this is about. She was saying he was under investigation by my office at

the time and I knew about it. None of which is true.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And that was Drew Griffin reporting. Taking a very, very short break. Back after this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[11:45:25] AMIR DAFTARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Is this the next big addiction: kids spending hours on smartphones and tablets. One South

African company is turning this potential problem into a tool for academic excellence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Top Dog today is one of Africa's largest ed tech companies. We have over 3.5 million users. And what we really are doing

is we are fundamentally changing the way millions of people learn so they can acquire the knowledge to shape their

future.

DAFTARI: Top Dog Education is growing at an average of 4,000 new subscribers a week. It offers a broad spectrum of supplementary online

lessons. And what sets it apart is its ability to tailor each of the lessons to a students' individual goals.

UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: We'll get the team to do research on the different section.

DAFTARI: The global private tutoring sector is projected to surpass $100 billion by 2018, and founders Claudia and Ryan Swartzberg (ph) are tapping

into this lucrative market.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Private tuition typically cost $80 per subject per month in South

Africa. At Top Dog we bring that price all the way down to $4.

DAFTARI: Learners subscribe by signing up on the Top Dog website. Here they are able to access a large library of video and text-based educational

resources. At just a click of a button, a computer generates content in real time.

Course material is overlayed with a complex layer of data. This provides teachers and parents with individual insights into a child's progress.

Schwartzberg (ph) says they see an average of 7 to 8 percent improvement in grades.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we have electrical wires, which are also known as transmission lines.

DAFTARI: It was as a student that Ryan first became aware of the need for a service such as

Top Dog. He started the company part-time in 2010. The concept took off, and both siblings joined the business full time in 2012.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we started from inception it was just two of us, now we are a team of 65 people. And that comprises of data scientists,

educational experts, software developers, and content writers.

DAFTARI: Growth has been significantly boosted through a number of investment and partnership deals with corporate heavyweights such as

Vodafone.

UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: what gets me really excited about our future is that we can help millions of students reach their full potential and have a

relevant education for the future that they want and the careers that they want.

DAFTARI: The company's focus, creating Africa's next generation of top dogs through education.

Amir Daftari, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And we have been waiting for Donald Trump, who will be giving his remarks on national security. And he is about to begin. So let's

listen in.

(DONALD TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY PRESS CONFERENCE)

END