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Connect the World
Manhunt Continues for Istanbul Nightclub Shooter; Trump's International Diplomacy by Twitter; Israeli Attorney General Investigates Allegations Prime Minister Potentially Receiving Illegal Benefits from Foreign Businesses; More Evidence Released Pointing to Russian Involvement of DNC Hack; Trump's Relationship with Dubai Developer Under Scrutiny. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired January 03, 2017 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[10:00:10] SARA SIDNER, CNN CORREPSONDENT: "He was one in a million."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNAH VAUGHAN JONES, HOST: Laid to rest, a final farewell to the victims of the New Year's Eve attack in Istanbul all while authorities hunt for the
suspect behind the carnage. Next, a live report from Turkey.
Also...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: Hussain, and the whole family, the most beautiful people from Dubai are here tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Trump's business dealings under fire again after he heaped praise on a UAE-based developer. Later in the program, a behind-the-scenes look
at the Trump International Golf Club in Dubai.
And a shaky truce in Syria: activists say the government is violating the cease fire while the regime contends it is fighting extremists. Coming up,
an update on the situation there.
Hello, and welcome to you. You're watching Connect the World. I'm Hannah Vaughn Jones in London. And we start with the story in Istanbul.
Turkish police have arrested two foreign nationals at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport in connection, of
course, with the New Year's Eve shooting rampage at a nightclub.
We don't yet have any details about their nationalities. Meanwhile, though, the man suspected of killing 39 people at Istanbul's Reina club is
still on the run. This video matches a still photograph of the suspect circulated by Turkish police. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the
atrocity and calls the suspect, he was yet to be named, a brave soldier of the caliphate.
Well, Sara Sidner joins me now live from Istanbul with more on this investigation, which is, of
course, very fast paced. They have had several arrests already, but authorities still hot on the trail of the main suspect.
SIDNER: That's right, Hannah. There are now 18 people that have been arrested by Turkish authorities in connection with the massacre at the
Reina nightclub. But -- and there are a lot of rumors going around here that the suspect has been caught, but there has been no official word as to
exactly where the suspect is, so ostensibly the manhunt is still on.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: Video from a party inside the upscale reign on night club the moment Istanbul entered 2017.
Just 75 minutes later, mayhem. Flashes from a gun held by a man as he begins his killing spree. First outside, shooting a police officer and
security guard, then he opened fire inside. 39 people are killed, 69 injured, the victims from all over the world, including the United States.
WILLIAM RAAK, AMERICAN VICTIM OF TURKISH NIGHTCLUB ATTACK: I got shot in the fucking leg, man. He's crazy. People came and shooting everything.
SIDNER: William Jacob Raak survived the night of terror. Seven of the nine people he entered the club with left with bullet ones. Raak, now heading
home.
RAAK: For me, I wake up in the United States, I eat breakfast. You guys wake up and have to think of this, it's so sad. And I really wish everybody
here the best.
SIDNER: But the worse was yet to come for the victims' families. 24 hours after the massacre, the funerals began this one for Fatih Cakmak, another
security guard. His mother's moans pierce the silence.
His father in shocked. His son had survived this car bomb attack three weeks ago at an Istanbul stadium, but not the nightclub massacre.
"He was one in a million. If he wasn't special, hundreds of people would not have bothered to show up here," he says.
This sorrow will be multiplied 39 times. This is just one of the families forced to say good bye to their young loved ones after the reign in night
club attack.
27 of the 39 victims were foreign nationals, including a film producer and a fashion designer from India, a beautiful 19-year old Israeli citizen with
a full life awaiting her.
A massive manhunt is now underway for the man believed to be the lone attacker. Turkish authorities say they have his fingerprints and image but
still have not caught him.
The aim of the attack, though, has come into focus as ISIS claimed responsibility, using social media, saying in part, a soldier of the brave
caliphate attacked one of the most popular nightclubs while Christians were celebrating their holiday.
But the majority killed were Muslim, many from Saudi, Arabia. The killer's ideology against the western ideals failing to change minds but succeeding
in sowing sorrow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[10:05:08] SIDNER: Now, there are a lot of rumors surrounding the new video that you showed, which appears to be the suspect using a camera for a
selfie to show himself, and a lot of people saying, well, if they know where to find this video that was apparently shared on social media, they
may know who this person is. But at this hour, we still don't have a name or whereabouts of the person who perpetrated this terrible act, Hsannah?
JONES: And, Sara, Turkey no stranger to terrorist attacks. There have been many over the course of the last year, but ISIS, in particular,
claiming this one very blatantly. Does this suggest it's a new tactic in ISIS's reign of terror?
SIDNER: I wouldn't say it's a new tactic. I would say that it is significant that this is the first time that there has been an official
claim from ISIS, from one of its social media accounts that's been then retweeted by many other people who follow ISIS and who are members of ISIS,
and so that gives you an some idea that this is, indeed, ISIS itself. What we don't know is whether or not this person was a trained by ISIS or was
inspired by ISIS. Those are the details that police are looking for at this hour.
But as you said, this country has gone through so many attacks. But this is really the first time that ISIS has officially said that it is behind
this terrible deed -- Hannah.
JONES: Sara, we appreciate you staying across this fast moving story for us. Sara Sidner is reporting there live from Istanbul, thank you.
We turn our attention now to Washington where a big day is shaping up on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are back after a holiday break, and the
Republican-led congress is expected to start laying the groundwork for Donald Trump's new agenda.
Trump started the day by signaling he means to get tough on trade. He tapped an attorney who is a harsh critic of China's trade practices as his
new trade representative. Well, also today, we could hear why Donald Trump doesn't necessarily, at least, believe Russia orchestrated cyber attacks to
disrupt the U.S. presidential election. He says he'll soon reveal inside information that even intelligence agents don't know.
Well, Trump may be keeping that a secret for now, but he's airing opinions on many other sensitive issues for all the world to see.
Jessica Schneider tells us about the U.S. president-elect's latest tirade on Twitter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President-elect Donald Trump airing his diplomatic grievances on Twitter yet again, targeting the
leaders of North Korea and China.
Trump taunting Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, who threatened over the weekend that his reclusive country was close to test- launching a
missile that could reach the U.S. Trump tweeting, "It won't happen." Even though China supported new sanctions against North Korea. Trump continued,
"China has been taking out massive amounts of money and wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice."
This as new video obtained by CNN shows Trump from his New Year's Eve party at mar-a-Lago speaking to the crowd at 800 wealthy revelers.
TRUMP: The ones I really care about are the members I don't give a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) about their guests.
SCHNEIDER: Trump lavishing praise upon his Dubai billionaire business partner, Hussain Sajwani.
TRUMP: Hussain and the whole family, the most beautiful people from Dubai are here tonight.
The most people here from Dubai are here tonight.
SCHNEIDER: Despite pledging to step away from his business, and address glaring conflicts of interest. A top adviser is springing to Trump's
defense.
CONWAY: This man is allowed to have a New Year's celebration with his friends and his business partners, the idea that he's giving a speech
recognizing a friend and his beautiful wife. And people are just going to twist that around to somehow it's a business favor. I mean, we've got to
get ahold of ourselves here.
SCHNEIDER: All the while, Trump continuing to cast doubt on the U.S. intelligence communities conclusions on Russian hacking. The president-
elect critically promising to reveal inside information on Russia's alleged election cyber meddling today or tomorrow.
CONWAY: It can come in a tweet. It can come in a press conference. It can come in a statement.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: Plenty more to come on Donald Trump's Twitter diplomacy. It head in the show today, CNN's Saima Mohsin is in South Korea with reaction to
Donald Trump's bold tweet about Pyongyang's nuclear program and its ambitions.
We'll also dig deeper into the Russian hacking allegations with live reports from both Moscow and also from the Pentagon.
And, we'll also hear from a top Trump adviser who breaks with his boss, the president-elect, over whether or not Russia is responsible.
OK, so some other stories on our radar today.
In Iraq, at least six people have been killed when multiple suicide bombers attacked targets in the city of Samarra. Two police stations were briefly
taken over during clashes that lasted several hours. ISIS said it was behind the attack just a day after the group killed 38 people in Baghdad.
Well, in the past week alone, Spanish authorities have discovered three migrants smuggled in the country in horrific conditions. A man and woman
were found hidden in the dashboard and the backseat of a car, earlier a 19- year-old migrant was found crammed inside a suitcase. The suspected smugglers in both cases have been arrested.
Myanmar is investigating Allegation of police brutality against its Muslim Rohingya minority, a video posted on YouTube prompted an investigation. We
want to show it to you now, but, first, a warning, you may find it disturbing.
It shows police officers beating Rohingya villagers. One officer records the video as the attack happens right behind him.
Well, the government says it has identified some of those officers involved and that it's trying to
track down the others. The country is widely criticized for its handling of human rights abuses.
Now, to Israel where the prime minister there is officially a suspect in a criminal investigation into corruption.
Police interrogated Benjamin Netanyahu at home for three hours on Monday night as they look into allegations that he accepted gifts and favors from
businessmen. Mr. Netanyahu insists this is all part of a political attack on him. And he says, quote, there will not be anything because there is
nothing. Nothing to find, according to the prime minister.
Well, our Oren Liebermann is following all the latest for us from Jerusalem. Oren, what does this all mean for Benjamin Netanyahu's
political future?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At the moment, it has no impact on his political future, and that's because under Israeli law, he
doesn't have to resign or step down until he's convicted, and until that conviction is upheld through the Israeli legal system, which is to say all
the way to Israel's high court. We're not close to that yet.
This has just become a criminal investigation, and even that took a long time.
The attorney general says this all started back in summer when they had information to start an
examination. It hadn't yet reached the criminal level yet.
It proceed over the course of the next few months until the attorney general says about a month ago they got evidence that led them to believe
that there was reason for criminal investigation, that officially started last night as a police car with investigators inside pulled into Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence here in Jerusalem and questioned him for three hours
under caution.
What "under caution" means in Israeli law is that he is a criminal suspect, the crime here -- or the suspicion of a crime, I should say, is that he
received gifts from businessmen.
Netanyahu has repeatedly denounced these claims. He's called them nothing. In fact, in his most recent response on his Facebook page, he said this:
"accusation of forbidden election financing, nothing. Acquisition of fixing primary results, nothing. Accusation of receiving benefits abroad
and funding flights, nothing. I repeat and say there will not be anything because there is nothing."
Again, at the moment, it is just a criminal investigation. And Netanyahu has been criminally investigated before back during the first term in the
late '90s. That didn't lead to an indictment, that didn't lead to charges. Hannah, Netanyahu promises that will be the same result again. This
criminal investigation will, as he says, end with nothing.
JONES: Oren, does he has any enemies within the political echelons sin Israel? Is there any grounds to support his view that this is a
politically motivated attack on him?
LIEBERMANN: Well, certainly he has his enemies in the opposition, but in terms of is this a
politically motivated attack? Both the Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, and the Chief the Police here Ron Alsheikh, are Netanyahu
appointees. And critics -- there were critics here who wondered whether they would bring a criminal investigation against Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu.
Analysts here, and commentators who have looked at this and said, look, because it's these two, because it's two Netanyahu appointees, you know
they are going to be careful and you know that they will not bring this to a criminal investigation unless they truly believe there is something
there.
Now, is there some political aspect from other areas, perhaps from the opposition trying to push this? Of course. It's Israeli politics, and
there's always an element of that somewhere in the story.
But at the moment, it's a criminal investigation. That's all we know because police are being very careful as is the attorney general about what
information they're putting forward. They believe that putting forward too much information could bias the investigation one way or another, so it
could be that this moves very slowly. It could be weeks, or months before the next step, it could be just as long before we learn anymore about what
exactly he is suspected of doing, although members of the opposition and even some other politicians say this should move quickly because it's the
prime minister of Israel and it concerns the state of Israel, so obviously it's very important here.
JONES: All right. Yeah, certainly one to watch. Oren Liebermann, live for us in Jerusalem., a bumpy road ahead potentially, at least, for the
Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Oren, thank you.
And still to come tonight on Connect the World, a city that's war weary, but finally at some sort of peace. We get an update from the United
Nations on what the new year may hold for people in Aleppo.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:17:25] JONES: Hello, you're watching CNN, and this is Connect the World. I'm Hannah Vaughan Jones live for you in London. Welcome back.
We turn our attention now to Syria where a fragile cease fire is looking shakier by the minute.
Activists and rebels are accusing the government of violating the truce by shelling a town near
the capital Damascus. The government says it is striking a extremists in Wadi Barada, something the activists there deny. Well, in retaliation, the
Suqur al-Sham rebel group said it has resumed attacking regime targets near the towns of Kafraya (ph) and Fua (ph), both towns are besieged by rebels
and were part of the east Aleppo evacuation deal that was just struck, of course, just last month.
Well, the latest violence comes as the Free Syrian Army says it is suspending all meetings and talks ahead of upcoming peace talks. And CNN
senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh has more on all of this. He's live for us in Beirut in Lebanon.
Nick, what is the reality on the ground here of this cease fire? Is it holding anywhere?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's, unfortunately, what in this deeply cynical and brutal war, what we've
become familiar with is the nature of a cease fire. Yes, a lot of good intention to start, and for the most part, a dramatic reduction of
violence, but then both sides, it seems, unable to hold themselves back in tit-for-tat retaliation here.
There were reports over the beginning of the ceasefire, which was different to previous ceasefires, because it was negotiated without the United States
at the table and is really between Turkey, long time backers of Sunni rebels there against the Syrian regime, and Russia and the Syrian regime
itself. A whole different kind of playbook here, this particular ceasefire, though, now focusing on a town of Wadi Barada. Now, that is
near Damascus, as you said. Potentially, it has 100,000 civilians in it, so say rebels. The regime have been targeting it, saying well we believe
that in the ranks of those rebels are al Qaeda affiliates, whoa re not part of the
cease fire deal and considered targetble by even the United States, frankly, because of their al Qaeda links.
The rebels for their part say, well, no, there are no such people amidst us here and you're simply using this opportunity again to target peaceful
civilians and, they say, against the regime. The regime trying to encircle that particular town.
So, we're into familiar territory here where ceasefires, many cynically say, are used by the regime and its allies to pursue military gains. They
do appear to be going for Wadi Barada quite clearly. And now the Syrian rebels responding by hitting Kafra (ph) and Fua (Ph), two towns in the
north of Syria, which are regime loyal.
Another ghastly episode here really, Hannah, and obviously simply don't know how much
longer the sides involved will continue to call this is a cease fire. We know the rebels themselves said they're going to important peace talks,
also run by Russia and Turkey and the Syrian regime in Astana in a matter of days away.
Well, they're not, say, suspending their participation, rather than not going, Hannah.
[10:20:19] JONES: And, Nick, when Aleppo first fell back to government control, Bashar al-Assad was very buoyant and said that this was the start,
really, of more to come.
Are we now going to see more major cities that are fresh battlegrounds for government efforst to regain control?
WALSH: Hard to tell. Quite likely. The Russians have publicly announced how they're going to have less people, potentially, on the ground here, but
it's pretty clear that you can't always match their actions with their words.
Yes, the major focus during the Idlib -- sorry, the Aleppo siege, which many consider to be a foregone conclusion, given the strength of the Syrian
regime forces around it, with a focus to the northwest where many of the civilians from Aleppo who had fled. Another, city called Idlib. That's
under rebel control. There are a lot of al Qaeda affiliate rebels in that area, too. It is potentially the next target, where there are many more
civilians. The UN was deeply concerned about that, a matter of weeks ago in the later stages of last year, Wadi Barada appears to be another target,
too.
We simply don't know the scope in reality of the Syrian regime's ambitions. We know Bashar al-Assad, their president, has said he wants to retake all
of Syria. It seemed far fetched a matter of months ago, but the ground is changing so fast for the Syrian rebels here it's,frankly, hard to see how a
ceasefire they took upon themselves here really changes things much militarily for them. They were on their back foot, they were retreated in
many areas, too. It's a precarious time of what used to be called the Syrian rebellion. It's now often more a mixture of al Qaeda affiliates,
some less radical groups, some moderate, still, but still, hundreds of thousands of civilians caught in the middle of this continuing battle here
and no real signs the brutality of the Syrian regime, backed by Russians and its Iranian counterparts, too, is necessarily lessening at any stage.
They appear to have a stride on here and continue to move towards population centers that have been resisting them, Hannah.
JONES: And, Nick, Bashar al-Assad and the regime in Damascus have only been able to make the ground that they have made with, as you mentioned
just now -- excuse me, Russian and Iranian support. Is there any indication yet from the Kremlin as to how far it will go in its lengths to
support Assad across Syria?
WALSH: Well, they made it pretty clear that their commitment isn't open- ended. I think any analyst observing the nature of their involvement there say it's very much being used to buoy Vladimir Putin domestically. He's
got severe economic problems at home at the moment and doing things against American will, for example, in Syria can help buoy that. They are not
going to back out on Bashar al-Assad, but they are also certainly not making noises they're there forever -- Hannah
JONES: Nick Paton Walsh live for us there in Beirut. Nick, thanks very much, indeed.
Well, it's been just over two weeks since the world watched thousands of civilians and rebels, of course, leave eastern Aleppo and then saw a
semblance of peace return to what was once Syria's commercial hub. While people loyal to the government in this divided city were finally able to
return home, those who supported the rebels now find themselves displaced as part
of the evacuation deal and living in camps in opposition held territories.
Let's get some a sense now of what the new year may bring for Aleppo and its people. Saijid Malik is the UNHCR's representative in Syria and joins
me now via Skype from Aleppo.
Mr. Malik, thank you very much for being with us on the program.
I want to talk about the people who have been forced out of eastern Aleppo, are you concerned about the men of young fighting age, in particular, who
are now in opposition controlled -- regime controlled land out of eastern Aleppo. Are you concern for their immediate
welfare?
SAIJID MALIK, UNHCR: I'm actually in east Aleppo right now, and I've been visiting east Aleppo for the last several days. I must say the destruction
that we have not witnessed in east Aleppo is absolutely massive. There's no way we can describe that. And I've been to several conflict situations
in Afghanistan, in South Sudan, in Somalia, and nothing prepared me for what I saw in east Aleppo.
Here, at least for now the hope and optimism is there amongst Syrians. Children are coming out. Women, men, they are reaching out to see their
houses, their shops, the destruction there, and there is a sense of hope and optimism out in east Aleppo that this hope
of this peace that it will stay and they will be able to rebuild lives there.
JONES: It is, of course, mid-winter at the moment, bitterly cold there in northern Syria. Are people -- are we faced with the prospect now of people
who have fled from the terror in Aleppo. They are now having to combat the elements, natural elements and potentially dying just from cold?
[10:25:04] MALIK: It's absolutely bitter cold here, and we've been going to the field with several layers. There's no electricity. There's no
heating. But what we have done is over the last several weeks, we have distributed to a quarter million people with winterization package. It
includes things like warm clothes, undergarments, sleeping bags, thermal blankets. We now begin to distribute some heating. There's no fuel
available here.
So, we are bringing in some wood stoves, which were not available, but these emergency started bringing these back. In small rooms where there
are no windows or doors, the UN team has been able to provide some emergency plastic sheeting. There are mattresses provided, carpets
provided, just to keep that one room warm where families can stay together. Families, then, are supplied with two hot meals a day. We're distributing
20,000 people are receiving two meals twice a day through our partners. We're distributing bread to over 40,000 people on a daily basis, and many
of the activities are taking place, again, investing in the hope of the people out there, children on the streets still coming out and playing in
the cold on the rubble, damaged and destroyed buildings.
But there is a sense of optimism and hope that maybe this time the international community is will be with them and that peace will stay.
JONES: And what about those people who want to return home? They've been displaced, they've force out of their communities in eastern Aleppo, for
those who want to get back, how can you support them? And in doing so, are you having to seek the support, as well, of the Assad regime and the
Russians as well?
MALIK: They are, people returning, as I mentioned, to see their shops and homes, destruction,
just to see if they can return, but there are families beginning to return as well. In Hanano (ph) district, which is a large area with destruction
as well, we have now 2,200 families who have returned home, and they are beginning to find their places. They're beginning beginning to open shops.
And I must say that the departments here, the education department, health department, they are
beginning to help out in making the plans to do the immediate and urgent needs. The reconstruction program will be much longer in terms of getting
the city back to where it was, but the soul of the city is still there. We can still see it in the people that they want to bring it back.
Children were at the Citadel the other day when I was there. And this is for the first time that they were able to come out and see this Citadel
right in front of them playing on the streets.
And we are right now in the (inaudible), investing in the hope of these people.
JONES: And Saijid Malik, we appreciate all of your efforts with the UNHCR and we of course appreciate your time on Connect the World today. Saijid
Malik is there working with the UNHCR in eastern Aleppo, thank you.
And if the stories coming out of Aleppo and other places in Syria make you want to act to
help the people there, you can go to our Impact Your World page on CNN.com. We have a list of organizations, including the UNHCR, which you have just
been hearing from, who need your support if they are to continue doing their work. That's Impact Your World on CNN.com.
The latest world news headlines are just ahead. Plus, not everyone on team Trump agrees with the USs. president-elect's over the Russian hacking
allegations. We'll speak to the former CIA director, James Woolsey.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[10:32:29] JONES: Now, Donald Trump regularly takes to social media, of course, to sound on on everything from Saturday Night Live impersonations
to his admiration of the Russian leader Vladimir Putin. But his latest comments make a bold bet. In brand new tweets, the President-elect insists
North Korea won't test a nuclear missile that could reach the United States.
Our Saima Mohsin has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, President-elect Donald Trump says it won't happen. Now we don't know whether he's
referring to the fact that he believes North Korea doesn't have those capabilities or indeed if he thinks
that the United States will be able to counter any attempts to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile.
What we do know, of course, as you and I have been discussing before, is that North Korea did launch a satellite in February 2016, which could have
been a guise for launching a long range missile. It certainly needs similar technology.
And in April, Kim Jong-un inspected a new engine for an intercontinental ballistic missile. And at the time, he warned that it would be capable of
reaching his enemies, including the U.S. mainland.
Now, an intercontinental ballistic missile, of course, is one that goes beyond 5,500 kilometers. Now, we also know that the U.S. is talking to
South Korea to install a SAAD anti-missile defense system somewhere in South Korea to counter any kind of missile launch from
Pyongyang, but those are only applicable to short and medium range missiles, which we also know North Korea has. Is it capable of bringing
down intercontinental ballistic missile, and does King Jong-un even have one? Well, he's determined, he says, according to a number of defectors,
most recently Thae Yong-ho, the former deputy ambassador to London, saying that he's determined to complete his nuclear ambitions by the end of 2017
when Donald Trump will be in the White House -- Kristie.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAIM MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How likely is it that it will happen, that Kim Jong-un will successfully launch an intercontinental
ballistic missile while if we look back over the nuclear capabilities and nuclear tests, we know that in 2016 two nuclear tests were successfully
conducted by North Korea resulting in sanctions, but that doesn't seem to be stopping Kim Jong-un. And we know that a number of missiles launched.
But the successful missile tests were largely short and medium range missiles, not long range missiles.
The testing of them have largely been unsuccessful, according to North Korea watchers, but in February 2016, North Korea launched a satellite
which many say was really a guide to test fire a long range missile, because they have similar technology. And crucially, in April 2016, Kim
Jong-un oversaw a new engine for an intercontinental ballistic missile being tested.
Now, at the time he said this would have the capabilities of reaching his enemies including the U.S. mainland. And that's, of course, because an
intercontinental ballistic missile can go way beyond 5,500 kilometers.
Did President-elect Donald Trump mean that they don't have the capabilities because he has access to some kind of intelligence that we are not privy
to, or did he mean the U.S. is able to counter it? Well, in terms of countering measures, we know that Washington and Seoul here in South Korea,
they are talking about installing a SAAD anti-missile system in South Korea, but that's causing a lot of ripples around the region, particularly
China, unhappy with any kind of increased military presence of the U.S. in the area.
Saima Mohsin, CNN, Seoul, South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: Well, it's not just North Korea that has Trump talking, the president-elect has been casting doubt on claims that Russia was involved
in U.S. election related hacking. Now, Mr. Trump said he had information about hacking that others don't have and says he'll reveal that in the next
few days.
Well, it comes as U.S. intelligence officials say new digital fingerprints indicate that Moscow was responsible. Well, CNN has this story covered
from all angles. Our Frederik Pleitgen is in Moscow, and Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon.
Barbara, if I come to you first, just talk us through these digital fingerprints. Can the U.S. intelligence agencies now be confidence that
Russia is involved?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are confident, Hannah, are they 100 percent sure? Is it a slam dunk? Nothing in
intelligence really is these days. So, you know, they are talking about their level of confidence in their findings.
They do say they have digital fingerprints. They're able to understand, what keyboards were used that the hacking tools that were used were so
sophisticated they likely only came from Russian government entities that they really mimic the most sophisticated U.S.
military capabilities.
And that the dispersal, the publication of the information was so widespread that only Vladimir Putin would have had the authority to
authorize that.
So that's some of the indicators. Now, remember we're going to see more, perhaps, because President Obama has ordered a full investigation to be
completed before he leaves office in the next couple of weeks, and we'll see if any of that is declassified and shared with the American public --
Hannah.
JONES: Yeah, let's go to over to Fred now who is live for us in Moscow now. Fred, what kind of Russian reaction have we had to this? Because
whilst it could be a Russian agent, it doesn't necessarily point to the Kremlin.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDNET: Well, that's exactly the case. And, you know,I asked one of the main -- or one of the top
journalists here in Russia for cyber hacking, for cyber security about all of this. And he said looking at the information that seems to
be out there so far, he is not convinced that it was necessarily a Russian government entity that would have been behind all of this, or whether or
not it might have potentially been maybe someone who was contracted by some sort of Russian government entity possibly, Russian
military entity.
He said at this point in time, the information that's out there simply isn't enough. And that's certainly something that's playing out here in
the country as well where a lot of media outlets are putting out reports detailing some of the reactions from members of the Trump transition team
saying, look, we're not convinced yet that this was necessarily the Russians. There's not enough information
out there that some also believe that it might be politicized.
That's certainly the view of politicians here in this country as well, at least the ones we've been speaking to. And the Russian government, for its
part, has not changed its line at all, and it's still saying that these allegations are baseless. It's even called them absurd. So, certainly, no
change in the Russian perspective from all of that, but, certainly, they are very much
following the debate that's going on in the United States.
JONES: Yeah.
And back to Barbara now at the Pentagon. Barbara, will we ever know for sure or will this always just be a case of one person's word against
another's? Will there ever be enough evidence that can be put into the public domain to make us know exactly what
happened?
STARR: Well, put in to the public domain maybe the key phrase there, Hannah, because the U.S. intelligence community will only go so far in
revealing what they call their sources and methods of coming to the conclusions that they have. They are not going to want to reveal the most
classified surveillance methods they have in cyberspace.
So, again, they will have a certain level of confidence. How much they are willing to share may be another question.
JONES: OK. Barbara Starr, live for us at the Pentagon and also Frederick live for us in Moscow. Thank you, both.
STARR: Now, at least one of Donald Trump's top advisers is breaking with the president-elect over the hacking allegations. The former CIA director,
James Woolsey, tells CNN he believes that Russia was involved, but he stresses that there's probably not just one guilty party. He says it's
much more complicated than that.
Well, I'm delighted to say James Woolsey joins me now live from Washington. Many thanks for joining us on the program today, sir.
Is there any doubt in your mind now that Russia was directly involved in hacking the U.S. election process?
JAMES WOOLSEY, FRM. CIA DIRECTOR: No doubt is not a good phrase to use with respect to intelligence. Barbara Starr speaking just now had it
exactly right.
It's a matter of judgment looking at where things stand. And I'd say it looks to me as if there were some Russian involvement, whether it was over
half or under half or what, it's like -- it's like a bunch of jackals in the steppe in Africa tearing apart the carcass of an antelope, who took
what bite?
It is not something in which one can be real precise about exactly what happened. This -- and I think it's -- there's not much point in trying to
be.
It's a complicated situation, And the web is a very open piece of equipment and technology, so
it's easy for people to get into it.
JONES: Sure.
WOOLSEY: And there's a lot of uncertainty, I think, associated with this. And we shouldn't mask that uncertainty.
[10:40:14] JONES: Well, of course we don't know exactly what happened, but Donald Trump claims to know something he's not telling us what yet. Is it
possible that the president-elect, though, does know more than his intelligence agencies do know? And what might that be? And when might the
rest of us find out?
WOOLSEY: Well, I don't know. But I think that the chance that someone may have shared matters with him, maybe some people from other countries, maybe
people from the United States who have extraordinary expertise in these areas, one just doesn't know.
He is not yet president, but he's going to be president in a couple weeks plus, and he could well have people talking to him who know a great deal
about this issue.
JONES: But he has, of course -- he's shunned the daily intelligence briefings that most president-elects have been privy to. As sort of a
senior adviser to his incoming administration, are you concern about his approach?
WOOLSEY: Well, I served for two years as director of central intelligence for President Bill
Clinton, and he did not take a morning briefing once. He was a speed reader. And he would read briefings and sometimes annotate them and send
notes back to me. Jim, this resembles very much the new book by Kaplan, have you read it?
He was involved, but not by taking morning briefings, and so I, you know, I think one, again, has to not be rigid and say that because Mr. Trump
chooses to, perhaps, talk with his briefers, perhaps read things, perhaps read his things that are particularly pointed out to him, all of those are
possible ways of getting information. He doesn't have to go by the numbers and listen to a briefing every morning.
JONES: But nevertheless, it is somewhat unprecedented the way that his administration before has even been sworn in has been so prominent, if you
like, in the last month. And, of course, with just three weeks to go, of course, until that inauguration.
You suggested yesterday in your interview Donald Trump was playing with the media, playing with the public. Do you still stand by that? And do you
think it's appropriate?
WOOLSEY: Well, it was basically a bomo (ph) and back and forth with the interviewer. I think that there are some analogies to his campaign here.
He took an approach in his campaign that no one else has ever taken, and it turned out to be right, it turned out to get him elected president. And
the press ahead of time was all saying he could never do this. He could never do that. It never will work. We know. We know because we cover
this all the time.
And it turned out that he was right, and got himself elected president by his innovations and his new and different ways of looking at things. And I
think one needs to be a bit tolerant of that. He's not even president yet.
JONES: He will be soon, though, of course. You'll be his national security adviser, and you've
been advising...
WOOLSEY: No, no. I have no position that's been announced at all for being inside...
JONES: An adviser, though, to his transition team?
WOOLSEY: As of now, today, yes, I am an adviser to the transition team.
JONES: And what do you expect, then, after he has taken office? Do you expect, on Russia in
particular, that he'll take a more hard line approach, that he'll concede to the will of many of his Republican friends as well in congress that they
want him to take a more hard line approach to Rrussia and what happened over hacking?
WOOLSEY: I have no idea. And if I did know, I wouldn't pass it on to a soul.
JONES: OK. Well, we look forward to spending more time with you as the Trump administration takes form as well. James Woolsey, thanks very much
for being on CNN Connect the World today. Thank you very much, sir.
WOOLSEY: Good to be with you.
JONES: Now, what benefit does being friends with Donald Trump come with? Well, his team would like you to think zero, nada, zilch. And so might
some of his friends? But is that really the way it is? We'll be digging into that next so stay right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:46:34] JONES: You're watching CNN and this is Connect the World. I'm Hannah Vaughan Jones. Welcome back.
And speaking of welcomes, let's dive into Donald Trump's hello to 2017, his New Year's event bash over in Florida over the weekend.
Some of what he said there, well, it isn't exactly going down as well as the champagne probably was with the guests that night. Take a listen to
this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Hussain, and the whole family, the most beautiful people from Dubai are here tonight and they're staying here and they love it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Trump gave a shoutout to his billionaire business partner in Dubai, that's Hussein Sajwani. They have been working together for a long time,
including building the very golf course you are seeing them on right here.
But the speech wasn't quite a hole in one. Critics pounced on it, pointing out that Trump could turn his political fortune into an even bigger
personal one.
One of his senior advisers told CNN, though, that's just not the way it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, SENIOR TRUMP ADVISER: I mean, the idea that he's giving a speech recognizing a friend and his beautiful wife and people are just
going to twist that around to somehow it's a business favor, I mean, we've got to get ahold of ourselves here, that this man can't be at a social
event.
If you took that example to its extreme, nobody would be able to be friends with anybody else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Well, CNN's John Defterios met Hussain Sajwani (ph) just after Donald Trump won the U.S. lection, and John joins us now from Abud Dhabi to
get us straight on all this.
How close are these two? And is there any potential conflict of interest with whatever their
future business plans might be?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, it raises a number of questions, Hannah, no doubt, but they are very close family friends, I am
told. Hussain Sajwani (ph) has known Donald Trump for over a decade, but it's been in the last year that their relationship has sparked a great deal
of controversy here in the Middle east. The Dubai billionaire and his company decided to stay with Mr. Trump even after he called for a ban on
Muslims going to the U.S. and having reached a close associate in the last few hours.
The tone remains exactly the same. It's a loyal position, when asked if terms of business have changed since the election, raising this idea of a
conflict of interest, Nial McLoughlin told me, and this is a quote, "nothing has changed. They like each other's company and they were
together over the new year as social friends."
Sajwani (ph) himself told me after the election in November that he went to the opening
of the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C., and went several times to New York for private dinners with Donald Trump and his family. And he's more than
pleased to carry the brand of the future president now that he's been elected.
Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUSSAIN SAJWANI, DAMAC: He was over here a year and a half ago.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR (voice-over): Nearly a year ago, developer Hussain Sajwani and his company, DAMAC, were swept up in a
political firestorm. At the center of it all was this Trump international golf course on his project called Akoya (ph).
When candidate Donald Trump proposed a ban of all Muslims going into the United States, anything with his name on it suddenly became toxic in the
region. But the soft-spoken Sajwani (ph) decided to shut out all the noise and stick to business.
SAJWANI: We're not a political organization. I'm not a politician. I respect my business with my friends. I make a deal with you, I'm going to
respect my deal with you.
DEFTERIOS (voice-over): That was his internal position but the perception outside seemed different.
Needless to say, it was quite a week for DAMAC. On December 8th last year, Donald Trump made his comments about Muslims. Two days later, his name was
pulled off the stone wall and three days after that it was put back up again. The developer insists it was just unfortunate timing when scheduled
maintenance dovetailed with Trump's comments about Muslims.
It seems more than a coincidence.
[10:50:16] SAJWANI: Exactly and honestly nobody would believe us. But that week we had to do maintenance on the stone sign and we took it down and put
it back up in less than 48 hours.
DEFTERIOS: Removed and never to be seen again was a giant billboard with Trump's image.
But the Dubai developer and his team never wavered.
SAJWANI: I think our customer appreciated that, Mr. Trump and his organization appreciated that. And the government locally appreciated that.
DEFTERIOS: Sajwani said his first Trump project did not get beyond the blueprint stage due to the global financial crisis. With land much cheaper
after the crash, he decided on something much bigger.
Now he's in the unusual position of coming to the market with a name that will occupy the White House.
SAJWANI: We have that island which is Trump's island, where we launched the last.
DEFTERIOS: Multimillion dollar villas on what he named Trump Island are already sold out.
SAJWANI: No question in the last 12 months, his brand becomes stronger and more global and I think it will have a positive impact on our sales. We're
happy with that.
DEFTERIOS: I would imagine.
So happy that he started work on an even bigger project next door and, you guessed it, with another Trump golf course.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEFTERIOS: That second course will carry Tiger Woods' name. The company said they will officially open the first development around mid-February.
They told me that today. I also asked Sajwani's spokesman if Mr. Trump or his company provided any guidance whatsoever to avoid a future
conflict of interest, and he said this, "we have been dealing with Donald Trump's children and family over the last three years, this would including
Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr., in their roles of executives including executive vice presidents.
I would be speculating if I commented on any of the changes that will be coming in the future.
Hannah, back to you.
JONES: John, we appreciate it. John Defterios there, live for us in Abu Dhabi on this potential conflict of interest at least for Donald Trump.
John, thank you.
Now live from London, you are watching Connect the World. And still to come on the
program, bargains before breakfast. Why some analysts say now is the time to shop up a storm before
the UK's big move.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JONES: Now, if you're a bargain hunter in Britain, there's probably no better time to shop. Retailers are offering big discounts, but they are
not likely to last for all that long and that's because Brexit is looming, and some analysts believe that prices will rise as the year goes on. So
for your Parting Shots today, we hit the stores for a bit of shopping with our Isa Soares.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDNET: 50, 60, as much as 70 percent off. Pretty attractive bargains that have many people here making the most
of what's on offer. In fact, in the last few days, Brits have spent an estimated $9 billion. That's very good news for retailers, but shoppers
will soon see their spending bubbles burst as Brexit pushes prices up.
Well, already we are seeing the impact. Brits will have to pay 11 percent more for an Apple iPhone.
Why? Because of this. Over the past six months, sterling has been fluctuating wildly. For example, this 10 pound note has been worth
anywhere between $12 to as much as $15. And it's these fluctuates coupled with a of clarity, a lack of certainty over a Brexit plan, which makes it
very difficult for retailers to protect themselves against any potential losses.
[10:55:29] RICHARD HYMAN, RETAIL ANALYST: I think it's going to be extremely difficult for retailers to protect themselves against price rises
and against the impact of a devalued sterling. If you an I trade side by side on the high street in competition, my currency hedging runs out three
months before yours does. I put my prices up, guess where my customers are going to go. I think it is going to be extraordinarily difficult to
make price rises stick.
SOARES: The UK also relies heavily on imports, clothes made in Southeast Asia, technology from China, imports which could become more expensive.
Currently, the UK enjoys cheaper trade tariffs as part of being in the EU. If the country fails to reach the right deal with the bloc, it will have to
use World Trade Organization rule, which come with higher tariffs.
A bottle of wine could set you back an extra 14 percent. And some analysts are predicting it will cost you an additional 12 percent to be on trend.
But are shoppers enjoying the January sales aware of the possible increases?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have noticed prices seem to be creeping up by some (inaudible) the shops for certain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of tech, food seems to be creeping up a little bit. Household bills not at the moment, I haven't noticed, but yeah,
certainly things on the high street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Given uncertainty, prices to certainly fluctuate in some ways. I expected us to be a bit worse off.
SOARES: Cautious words from Brits who now have no say on what deal their country may get in Brexit negotiations.
Isa Soares, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: So, there you have it. It's advice we should all take there from Isa. Perfect excuse to hit the shops before Brexit takes place.
You can always follow the stories that the team on Connect the World is following throughout the day as well by going to our Facebook page at the
address. It's Facebook.com/CNNconnect. And you can also get in touch with me on Twitter @HVaughanJones. I'd love to hear from you.
In the meantime, that is the end of the show, I'm Hannah Vaughan Jones. Connect the World is
over for today. Thanks so much for watching. Have a great day.
END
