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Connect the World
Protests of Trump's Refugee Ban; Interview with Actor Kal Penn; Six Killed in Deadly Mosque Shooting in Quebec. Child Bridge Survivor Tells her Story; Silicon Valley Says Immigration Ban Hurts Business. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired January 30, 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)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not a Muslim ban, but we're totally prepared. It's working out very nicely. You see it at the
airports. You see it all over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Chaos, confusion, shock and protests as the world tries to
work out what Donald Trump's travel ban means for them. Live reports this hour.
Then.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a hole in my heart.
ANDERSON: Details of shattered dreams from some of the people targeted by that very ban.
And the former adviser to Barack Obama was told to get out of America so he raised $500,000 to help refugees. We hear from actor Kal Penn ahead.
Welcome to the show. This is Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. It's just after 7:00 in the evening here.
Before we move on, I want to get you to Canada tonight where six people were shot and killed at a Quebec city mosque. Witnesses say two men
stormed the Quebec Islamic Cultural Center firing at the worshippers. Eight people are in hospital. Most are in critical condition.
Police have arrested two men in connection with the attack. Now, it has prompted an outpouring of support.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his thoughts are with the victims of what he calls a cowardly attack.
Paula Newton joins us from Quebec City with an update on the situation -- Paula.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, we just had a police press conference within the last hour. Unfortunately, not much more news
there. They do confirm that they have those two suspects in custody, would not tell us what the charges pending are. Specifically, though, would not
name them. And that has many people in this neighborhood already upset.
It has been absolutely chilling what took place here. This is a suburban neighborhood. It is a quiet and safe. And while the mosque had had
problems before, some animosity from people in the neighborhood, no one ever thought it would cross into violence.
Today, Becky, in this province, other people going to mosques did so under police protection.
What is really troubling to police authorities is the fact that they used weapons. They refused to go into detail about what kind of weapons they
were, but they obviously described what looked like carnage, that from the Islamic association here, carnage in just a few short minutes.
As you said, six people dead. We know that five remain in hospital. Of those, three fighting for
their lives right now, and many people here just wondering why a coordinated attack. This is what they were not ready for, and police
freely admit that, look, they did not have any kind of a heads-up. They were not trailing any kind of a group or any kind of affiliation with these
two suspects. They were fairly unknown to them and they admitted that in the press conference.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. All right. Stay with the story.
As you get more, we'll come back to you. Thank you.
U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing back against his critics of his travel ban on citizens seven Muslim majority countries.
Now, a short time ago, he tweeted this, saying, "advanced notice of the temporary ban would have led to a rush of "bad" people trying to enter the
country." Instead, it's left some people in limbo, unsure when they'll be able to return to their jobs and families in the United States.
CNN's Athena Jones with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(CHANTING)
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid massive and growing backlash, President Donald Trump defending his immigration executive order,
insisting, "This is not about religion. This is about terror and keeping our country safe." His administration pushing back at massive protests and
claims of disorganization.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was an extreme vetting program that wasn't properly vetted.
REINCE PRIEBUS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Apologize for nothing here.
JONES: Asserting they're extremely proud of the order, which bans travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority nations for three months and
suspends all refugee admissions for four. Syrian refugees barred indefinitely.
The White House claiming the ban resulted in extremely minimal disruption, despite chaotic scenes erupting at airports around the world.
The Department of Homeland Security issuing one clarification late Sunday night. Green card holders from these seven countries won't be denied entry
into the U.S. but will face a secondary screaming. The White House blaming mixed messages on the, quote, "hyperventilating media," insisting the order
was successful, citing only 109 travelers being detained in the first 24 hours out of the 325,000 who entered the U.S. in the same period and noting
392 green card holders were granted waivers to enter the country.
All as 16 Democratic attorneys general called the ban unconstitutional, un- American and unlawful.
[10:05:40] SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: This executive order was mean-spirited and un-American.
JONES: With a growing number of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle criticizing Mr. Trump's ban.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I think the effect will probably, in some areas, give ISIS some more propaganda.
JONES: In a joint statement Arizona Senator John McCain and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham calling the travel ban "a self- inflicted wound in
the fight against terrorism."
Trump lambasting the Republican senators, tweeting, "They are sadly weak on immigration. The two senators should focus their energies on ISIS, illegal
immigration, and border security, instead of always looking to start World War III."
The White House now facing mounting legal battles, federal judges in New York and Massachusetts already temporarily blocking parts of the ban from
taking effect.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, that was Athena Jones reporting.
Let's get you more, then, on the global fallout from this ban. We've got Christiane Amanpour
at our London bureau. Frederick Pleitgen is also in London. He is at Heathrow Airport. And Ben Wedeman is in Baghdadi, iraq, one of the
countries, of course, listed as banned on Trump's executive order.
Christiane, let me start with you. Trump took to Twitter earlier writing that only a little over 100 people out of hundreds of thousands were held
and questioned as a result of this executive order, perhaps trying to shake off any blame for all of this disruption. Your perspective, if you will?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: First of all, we don't know the actual figures. We don't necessarily go by those tweets.
So, we're waiting to see, but obviously the whole world could see what a disruptive situation it was
because obviously nobody really knew how to deal with this at those airports and travelers didn't know not
to go and basically it all hit the world running after a publicized executive order, which, as you know, in itself is coming under great
scrutiny in the United States because of who actually, we're told, wrote the executive order, Steve Bannon, who is the White House ideologue, Steven
Miller, who is a former speech writer and a policy adviser, and because of who is now no longer on the National Security Council, and that none of the
players in terms of the big U.S.departments, relevant departments, were notified.
So all of that, the rollout was very, very bad. But particularly, as you can imagine, around the world here in Britain, the prime minister finally
was forced to issue a statement after three times on saturday refusing to condemn the ban. Then did so on a paper statement.
We understand the foreign secretary is going to address parliament.
And, as you know, Chancellor Merkel has said that Germany doesn't agree with the ban and there's a lot of fallot around the world.
I mean, the key fallout, Becky, is what does this do to actually increase the foot soldiers and the recruits to ISIS and the others, what does it
mean, extreme vetting, because already we know that extreme vetting does happen to refugees and to people from those countries, and the fact that
nobody from those countries has, in fact, committed an act of terrorism in the United States in the post 9/11 world.
So there are so many questions left to be answered.
ANDERSON: Meantime -- Christiane, thank you.
Fred, to you at the airport, I've spoken to numerous people here in the UAE who were either
U.S.-bound through these local international hubs or here trying to get -- or for appointments trying to get U.S. visas who are now stuck. It is
chaos here.
What is the perspective where you are?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's very similar here in London.
Obviously, a lot of the countries that we're talking about here, the seven ones mentioned in the
executive orders, Iran, Iraq, some of the others, they had very few direct flights to the United States, so most of the travelers from those
countries, or even with dual nationalities, including those countries, they will travel through hubs like where you are in Abu Dhabi or here at
Heathrow. And so many of them are now having to change their plans.
And it's a big burden not just for the travelers, although for them, first and foremost, but of course for the airlines as well as they're having to
deal with this new situation. They say they don't really have clarity as to who is allowed and who is not allowed to travel to the U.S. There's
some clarity that the authorities here have now gotten as to green card holders who can now go to the United States.
But one of the big issues, especially here in Europe is what about dual nationals, if you have people who have British and Iranian passports, or
German and Syrian passports, are they allowed to travel to the U.S. or not.
Right now, the airlines are saying they are going to play it on the safe side. They're telling these people they cannot travel to the U.S., because
of course they don't want to have the burden of them having to transport folks who are rejected back here to Europe, but it really is something
where the European commission has come out with a statement today and said, look, right now at this point in time we're getting very mixed messages
from the new administration. We don't have the clarity that we need as to who is and who is not allowed to travel to the United States.
And you know, one of the things that Donald Trump obviously mentioned in that tweet where he said that only about 109 people have been detained,
obviously a lot more people have had their travel plans disrupted, a lot of people who wanted to visit their relatives in the United States, especially
Iranians who by far make up the largest contingent of those who are affected by this. There's a lot of families who have part of their family
in Iran, part of it in the United States and traveled back and forth quite regularly. And they've had some massive disruptions where at least for
three months they're not going to be able to travel, and at this point in time they don't know how things are going to change once those three months
are up, Becky.
[10:11:33] ANDERSON: Yseah. And we've got a good example of one such Isranian, a Ph.D. student at Yale who was stuck here in limbo at present.
He was just passing through at the weekend to conduct some studies in Afghanistan and now doesn't know whether he can get back to the states to
complete those studies.
We'll hear from him in a few moments.
Ben, to you, in Baghdad, Iraq, one of the countries that is on this list of banned countries, what are you hearing from those you are speaking to?
Because I know we are now hearing some retaliatory words as it were from the government.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTENATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, across the board, Becky, what I'm hearing is astonishment and a bit of resentment. Many
Iraqis will tell you, and have told me today, we are allies of the United States. We are both fighting against ISIS. There are thousands of U.S.
troops here. Why on Earth is Iraq, of all countries, being put on this list of seven countries affected by this temporary travel ban?
Now, today, the Iraqi parliament voted in favor of recommendations submitted by the parliament foreign relations committee in which they voted
in favor to do the following: take reciprocal action against the U.S. They have called upon the UN, Arab League, and Organization for Islamic
Cooperation to take action as a result of this executive order. They called upon the U.S. congress and the U.S. administration to rescind the
order.
However, this is not a binding vote. It really is up to the government to make a final decision. And I can tell you that this vote passed just when
I was lining up to get my visa to come into Iraq. I had no prying questions asked of me. Nobody asked to look at my social media footprint,
but the immigration officials did ask me why the United States is taking this decision. They simply cannot understand, despite my attempt at an
explanation, why the United States would punish the citizens of a country that has been one of the main victims of ISIS and is now fighting with the United States to destroy it -- Becky.
LU STOUT: Christiane, after Trump's victory, the president of the Eurasia group, a man you and I know, Ian Bremmer, described the world as falling
into a, quote, geopolitical recession, that meaning the unwinding of the old global order. Is that what we are seeing revealed by the actions of
this new Trump administration?
And if so, what do you think the consequences of that will be?
AMANPOUR: Well, I think Bremmer was probably talking about really what Donald Trump said in his inauguration speech, which was America, for all
intents and purposes is retreating from its leadership role. I mean, practically and actually did, cast aside the mantel as leader of the free
world, because he said this is not our intention anymore, we will have bilateral agreements with countries based on our interests, so nothing to
do with freedom, democracy, human rights, multilateral alliances, all of that stuff he believes is useless to the United States and in a
transactional foreign policy believes that, you know, we just do what we can for America first, America first. So, that's very clear. And that's
probably what Bremmer was referring to.
In regard to this Muslim ban, because, let's face it, it is a Muslim ban, because Donald Trump
himself has said there are exceptions for Christians in all of these countries, Christians, he says, who have been persecuted. It is a Muslim
ban, because Donald Trump himself has said there are exceptions for Christians in all of these countries, Christians he says who have been
persecuted. So, it is a Muslim ban.
And what it means is that quite differently from going after people who should be under suspicion for terrorism and this and that, he puts the
whole load of everyone in one basket and says all of you people in those countries are threats to our homeland. And that, as Ben was saying, really
divides the notion and collapses the notion of trying to get as many of the Muslim world, as much of the Muslim world on side to fight and de-
radicalize and sort of, you know, try to crush ISIS, not just on the battlefield but the ideology as well.
So that is a very, very dangerous step that's been taken if you're talking about wanting to get rid of terrorism, crack down on that, fight this kind
of ideology, many will tell you that this may very well do the opposite.
ANDERSON: Christiane, Ben and Fred, to all of you, we appreciate it. Thank you.
Well, targeting seven countries and millions of people, the sheer size of Mr. Trump's temporary travel ban is hard to fully comprehend.
Later in the show, as I suggested earlier, we'll hear from one young man who went to Yale to avoid jail in Iran and is now stuck in limbo in the
UAE.
First, though, the heartbreaking story of one newly married couple.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOLMAZ BEHZADPOUR: I have a hole in my heart.
ANDERSON: Solmaz and Sohail met in Tehran and got married last January. He's Iranian-American and she's Iranian. They were in the final stages of
getting her U.S. visa approved here in Abu Dhabi when President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring citizens of seven Muslim majority
countries from entering the United States.
Solmaz didn't hear about the ban until the very moment she landed in the UAE.
BEHZADPOUR: I got an email from NBC that interview, canceled.
ANDERSON: Saying what?
BEHZADPOUR: Saying...
SOHAIL SOBHANI: Sure, saying, "due to unforeseen circumstances, your interview has been canceled. Sorry for any inconvenience and we will let
you know when a time of reschedule is established.
ANDERSON: Solmaz and Sohail met through a mutual friend in Iran a year and a half ago.
SOBHANI: We went to a coffee place and sat down and we started talking and I met Solmaz and I haven't felt these feelings in a very long time and I
said, I'm going to get that girl. This is it. So, then I got her number and started texting and we started talking and she was actually going to
London to see her sister.
I went and we spent eight days in London. What a great place to fall in love.
ANDERSON: You have been pushed towards a number of websites which have given you absolutely no information about what happens next. You are stuck
in limbo, correct, in the UAE?
SOBHANI: That's what we're trying to figure out. We're trying to let time go by, so maybe things can become more clear, or maybe we can hear back.
I did respond to the email I received about the cancellation about anything that I can do, any help, any guidance. They are probably flooded. I
haven't heard anything back yet. It's been a couple of days.
But so for me, I fly back. I'm scheduled to fly back Sunday. Maybe I'll stay longer. My company has been -- I work for Hershey -- extremely
supportive of whatever they need for me or whatever I need I can do here. But for Solmaz, I'm trying to figure out -- we're trying to figure out what
the best thing to do is.
I don't see how she can go back to Iran at this point with her five suitcases.
ANDERSON: A young couple waiting to start a life together now having to put their hopes and dreams on hold.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: You'll probably remember Mr. Trump called for a ban on Muslims on the campaign trail. He made a lot of other pledges, of course, while
trying to get into the White House as well and we are keeping an eye on how well he is keeping to his word. That's on the website at
CNN.com. Do get there. You can track Trump's promises as you do.
Still to come tonight, the power of 140 characters. How one tweet has raised over $500,000 for Syrian refugees. And Israel set to pass a
controversial new law, one the critics say amounts to annexing part of the West Bank. Details on that, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHTON KUTCHER, ACTOR: Good evening fellow SAG/AFTRA (ph) members and everyone at home and everyone in airports that belong in my America. You
are a part of the fabric of who we are and we love you and we welcome you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Celebrities joining in the protests over President Donald Trump's travel ban and speaking out against it. That was actor Ashton
Kutcher at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, just one of several stars at the award show who voiced dismay at the executive order.
Well, my guests has taken his objection to the ban a step further. After being trolled on Twitter,
actor Kal Penn had a fitting rebuttal. And it was more than a tweet back. Penn responded, quote, "to the dude who said I don't belong in America, I
started a fundraising page for Syrian refugees in your name." And now that crowd sourcing page has now raised more than $500,000, all of which
benefits refugees through the International Rescue Committee.
Kal joining me now live from Toronto.
Just reflect for a moment, Kal, on what you have heard and seen over the weekend. Your thoughts?
KAL PENN, ACTOR: Sure.
And thanks for having me on.
It was a kind of a crazy weekend. You know, Is think most Americans who I know, whether they are Democrats or Republicans, did not agree with what
the president did this weekend. And I think you saw the outpouring of love that you would see at airports, at different protest movements, certainly
online.
And it was actually pretty inspiring to see that you had the evangelical faith community in the United States, most of whom are Republican, coming
out and saying this is wrong. This is not who we are. Obviously, those of us on the left feel that way as well.
So it's an interesting time, right, because you're seeing a lot of people speaking out and really were quite horrified at what our president is
trying to do.
ANDERSON: I have to say, with respect, he will not be affected, I am sure, by celebrities who speak out about his actions. We have seen and heard his
reaction to the likes of Meryl Streep who were candid in her views about Donald Trump, for example, ahead of the election.
Look, our views may known you best for your roles on the silver screen, but when former
President Obama was in office, you served as associate director in the office of public engagement. How can the public make their voices heard by
the White House, by this specific white house, do you think?
PENN: Sure. It's a very good point and a very funny point. You know, I saw what the president had said and I just sort of always think -- I mean,
we've elected a reality TV star as our president, so obviously there is some role that celebrities have played in the current administration at
least.
But I think, you know, if you look at this crowd rise page that started over the weekend, that's sort of an example of how Americans from all 50
states, by the way, have donated to this. There was this Instagram message that I saw and I thought, this is not the America that I know and that I
love and I feel like maybe we can turn this into something good. Let's try and raise $2,500 bucks.
So I started this crowd rise page and the next thing you know, from all 50 states, you have thousands -- tens of thousands of people who have donated
small amounts to sort of say as Americans we are better than this. We're better than what our president is doing. And we're not going to stand for
it and we welcome everybody, as you showed in that clip that you started with .
Those of us who really believe that we need to counter all of this negativity with love and
obviously support in a very strong way the folks who are on Capitol Hill, some of the senators who
are trying to get bills passed to stop President Trump and obviously the judicial system as well. The ACLU and others who have tried to file over
the weekend some successful stays.
[10:26:15] ANDERSON: Out of interest, the guy who trolled you, did you ever hear back from him?
PENN: You know, I didn't. But I also didn't tag him in the post or anything because I think
the point of this was, look, I'm a relatively privileged guy, obviously. I can look at a comment like that on my social media and roll my eyes, but
there are a lot of kids out there who maybe are the14-year-old version of me and don't have that privilege and I wanted to sort of say, let's stop
looking at all of the negative stuff out there, let's rally around the beautiful, positive things
that we can do together. And all I did was set up this funding page, right, and I pinned it to my Twitter account and then it's everybody else
who did all of the stuff. Literally, it is tens of thousands of people.
And not just all 50 states, we had donors from 44 different countries and as you mentioned, it's up to half a million dollars and still rising. I
mean, to me that's just a testament to the love of who we are as Americans and kind of global community.
And to me, that was a really beautiful thing.
ANDERSON: And just briefly, give me a one word answer here, you're not going anywhere. You're staying in The States, right?
PENN: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look, the only reason I'm in Toronto is I'm working on a TV show up here. But I am absolutely not going anywhere. I'm
an American. And I'm going to stay in America and hopefully we will continue to welcome refugees and immigrants from everywhere. That's the
country I know and love.
ANDERSON: Gotcha. Thank you, sir.
PENN: Your world news headlines are just ahead, viewers. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[10:31:23] ANDERSON: Nowhere do American presidents seem to find their legacies coming unstuck more often than right here: the Middle East. We
are going to cover two big evolving stories in this part of the world for you now that will impact both Donald Trump.
We're going to get you to Jerusalem in a few moments. But first, this story. Jordan's King Adbullah is in Washington hoping to boost the
kingdom's security against the threat from ISIS. Abdullah is the first Arab leader to hold talks with the new administration. He hopes Washington
will now be more receptive to Jordan's requests for additional military aid, requests that the Obama White House rejected.
Well, Abdullah is also expected to argue against moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Joining me now is CNN's senior diplomatic correspondent Michelle Kosinski, who is at the State Department for you.
And a first, as it were, for an Arab leader. This is the first Arab leader to attend Washington
and the potential meeting with the president. He's at the Pentagon as we speak.
What is the takeaway, do you believe, that is expected from Washington on the one hand and
from Jordan on the other out of this meeting?
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a first meeting. So there is a lot on the table to discuss.
But I think the most urgent problem, which you mentioned, was the fight against ISIS and
Jordan's security. So they have their own interests in mind here. They see in Donald Trump's administration maybe more of a commitment and more of
an urgency to putting more resources into the fight against ISIS and to giving more of those resources to Jordan specifically.
I mean, President Obama did up the amount of military aid to Jordan over the last year. Although, it wasn't all that Jordan wanted. They wanted
things like Predator Drones, but the Obama administration said that Jordan doesn't qualify for them.
They wanted all kinds of additional equipment, but there was this huge bottleneck of bureaucratic stoppage, as Jordan saw it, that was there with
the Obama administration. So, they are going to hope that this new administration in the United States will smooth the way to better
cooperation and more resources for Jordan.
On the U.S.'s part, I mean, the Trump administration is going to see Jordan as an ally. Jordan has been working closely with Moscow. So, there may be
some coordination there. I think there's going to be a feeling out of the relationship here.
How close is Jordan going to be to Moscow versus the United States? And if this new American administration is going to try to forge a better
relationship with Russia, are the three of them going to be able to coordinate better in Syria in the fight against ISIS and on
counterterrorism.
But there are other issues, too. There is a possibility of moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem as opposed to Tel Aviv where it is now. Jordan does
not want that to happen. So there's definitely going to be a conversation there. As well as other things.
You know, all the issues that affect both the Middle East and the United States, they are
going to want to try to break ground on here.
ANDERSON: Why, Michelle, would it suit Washington, do you think, to have revealed at this stage its potential allies, its best friends, as it were,
in the Arab region going forward? We didn't get Egypt, the UAE, or Saudi on this list of banned countries through this executive order. Many were
surprised by that. And then you have got the invitation from Washington to this Arab leader, a very important one, and influential one across this
region.
This ban hasn't been condemned by any of these four states that we are just alluding to. Why would it be important, just briefly, that the U.S.
continues to have alliances, strong alliances, with the four of these countries?
[10:35:30] KOSINSKI: Yeah. Well, the U.S. needs them. I mean, in the fight against ISIS, the
fight against terror, and just stability in that region.
So there are a lot of question marks here. I mean, there is great confusion surrounding this latest executive order. How it was put out
there. How it's going to be implemented. I think having allies that are willing to come here right now and meet and discuss some of these things, I
think this new administration is just going to want to take that opportunity as it comes, and as they come over the next couple of weeks and
months to try to make sure that those relationships are going to be workable, basically -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Michelle, thank you.
And we're going to get you viewers to Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem to discuss some of what Michelle and I have been discussing here and move the
story forward. Before we do that, Donald Trump has just signed a new executive order. And he spoke with reporters.
Let's hear what he had to say just a few minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ...ever cut by far in terms of regulation. We spoke to small business owners. And they're great
people. They've been representative of the community, the small business community. If you have a regulation you want, number one, we're not going
to approve it, because it's already been approved probably in 17 different forms. But if we do, the only way you have a chance is we have to knockout
two regulations for every new regulation.
So if there's a new regulation, they have to knock it out. But it's going far beyond that. We're cutting regulations massively for small business
and for large business, but they are different. But for small business. And that's what this is about today. And this will be the biggest such act
that our country has ever seen. There will be regulations. There will be control, but it will be a normalized control where you can open your
business or expand your business very easily. And that's what our country has been all about.
Should I sign it? That's great. That's a big one.
Does anybody have anything to say to the press? Would anybody like to say something to the press? Anybody? Because famous back in Syracuse?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just thank you for doing this, because small business has been buried in a tidal wave of red tape. To break that will really
change the world for us.
Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: thank you all very much.
UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: Any comment on the protests, Mr. President?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Wonder whether that executive order will cause as much confusion and chaos as the one signed Friday that left people in limbo all over the
world. Possibly not.
Anyway, meanwhile, Israel pushing forward a bill that would give legal status to Israeli outposts in homes built on private Palestinian land.
Critics say the move amounts to an annexation of parts of the West Bank.
CNN's Oren Liebermann joining me now me from Jerusalem. What more do we know on the
detail on this at this point?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it looked like this bill was supposed to go through today for a second and third readings.
Those final readings to make this bill into law that has been delayed by at least a day.
The opposition here was planning everything they could do to hold this up and stop it, sync in any way they could. They have filibusters planned as
well as a number of other steps. Regardless, it doesn't look like they have the numbers to stop this bill, which is to say this will go through
unless they can convince somebody in the coalition under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to vote against this. And that's where their chances
may be.
The Defense Minister has said he opposes this. It's unclear where exactly the finance minister and his party stand. If they vote against it, this
bill is going nowhere. But they may support it and then comes in the opposition of the attorney general who has said this bill, the so-called
legalization bill, violates international law, is unconstitutional and opens Israeli leaders to prosecution at the International Criminal Court in
The Hague. He's made it clear he will not defend this if it is challenged at Israel's high court. And if it goes through, it is very likely to be
challenged very quickly in the court and then up to Israel's high court.
As you pointed out, critics -- and those critics and are Palestinians, Arabs, the international community, the UN, the EU, they all say this is a
first step towards a partial annexation of the West Bank, which is exactly what the right wing that supports this bill says, and that's why they
support it. They, too, see it as a first step towards annexation of parts of the West Bank.
The question now, when will that vote take place that was in committee today. Becky, again, that could come as early as tomorrow for final votes
on this.
[10:40:31] ANDERSON: Fascinating.
All right. Busy times. Thank you.
Live from Abu Dhabi, you're watching Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson. Coming up, a story of survival. We'll meet a woman who was
sold to a man just 12 years old and how she has fought back and is helping others in that same desperate situation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Some nauseating facts for you. Every 15 seconds, a child is stolen into sexual slavery, every 15 seconds. Every single day. Numbers
from the UN's agency for children puts the total at 2 million kids a year.
Now, they are not always stolen away in the night. In Southern India, some deeply poor parents sell their own daughters, sell their own daughters.
Now one victim is speaking out. CNN's Muhammad Lila went to hear her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (subtitles): That night he took me. He forced himself on me. I was crying. I didn't like it. He said I've bought you. I can
do whatever I want. I've given your parents money, and I've bought you. I can use you for as long as I like. Keep your mouth shut.
[10:45:23] MUHAMMAD LILA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Manira Begam (ph) says she was just 12 years old when her parents sold her
into a forced marriage to a man from Oman. She calls the so-called wedding night torture.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (subtitles): I wasn't educated and I couldn't understand anything that was going on. I had a childishness in me.
LILA (subtitles): How old was the Sheikh?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 70.
LILA: 70?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 70.
LILA: And you were 12?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (subtitles): Yes, 12 years.
LILA (voice-over): For two months, she says the 70-year-old man kept her locked in a room using her only for sex.
(on camera): Did he keep doing this to you over and over again?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (subtitles): I couldn't even look outside. He used to lock me from the outside in case I ran away. If I had to go anywhere he
would lock me from the inside come back again later and then the torture would start with me.
LILA (voice-over): Police say there are hundreds of cases like hers in the old city. Young girls from poor neighborhoods sold by their own parents
without their consent to elderly tourists who come here looking for sex.
In our investigation, we visited a number of shelters meeting victim after victim, all with horrific stories of physical and sexual abuse.
LILA (subtitles): How many girls?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (subtitles): There are a lot of girls like this. No one speaks up.
LILA (voice-over): Thanks to the courage of girls like Manira (ph), the CNN Freedom Project uncovered a network of human traffickers, agents, brokers
and clerics, who were all part of the scheme.
This is how it works. Agents spread across several countries in the Middle East and Africa contact brokers in this city with India's largest Muslim
population. Those brokers convince poor Muslim families to sell their under-aged daughters to a client, usually an elderly man. The client then
flies to the city where a corrupt cleric, who is also part of the international network, produce a fake wedding certificate and a fake post-
dated divorce certificate. When the client gets bored of using the child for sex, he leaves, never to return.
[08:35:44] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (subtitles): I was crying. After seeing the old man I started crying even more.
LILA: In the afternoon, Manira (ph) invited us to her home.
(on camera): So, come walk here with me through this alleyway, this is where Manira (ph) lives. It's one of the poorest parts of Hyderabad.
It's only here that you can see the extent of their poverty.
(subtitles): How many people live here?
(voice-over): Manira's (ph) mother tells us five people all live in this one tiny room. Her husband was an alcoholic and they had no money.
(on camera): Did you think by having your daughter married that she would bring in this money to help the family?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (subtitles): We thought that by doing this we could afford a small (inaudible) ours and our children's life would improve.
That's what we had in mind when we did this. But this is what happened to us.
LILA (voice-over): As we step outside, we are hit with another reality. This one precious.
(on camera): This is your daughter? Yeah.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(voice-over): This is Manira's (ph) daughter, born to the same man she was forced to marry. When she became pregnant, after just two months, he
divorced her over the phone. She says she was so distraught, she tried killing herself.
Now, Manira (ph) is left with a bitter-sweet reminder of the abuse that she faced. She filed a police case and the authorities arrested the middle man
involved in selling her.
It has taken years to recover. But now, with her voice, she's vowing to never let anything like that happen to anyone else.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (subtitles): The way I got caught up, I don't want other girls to face the same thing. In my heart, I feel that the pain I
faced, the other/next person shouldn't face that pain.
LILA: And that pain is what Manira (ph) is fighting to keep away from her daughter.
Muhammad Lila, CNN, Hyderabad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, in the time you were listening to that report, another 20 other kids were forced into slavery. That is why we are teaming up with
young people around the world for a unique student-led day of action. We are launching my freedom day on March 14th. Driving the day is a very
simple question: what does freedom mean to you?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[10:50:12] BOY: I come from Kenya. Freedom to me means going to school. What about you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think for me freedom is the ability to be yourself everywhere.
BOY: Do you know that (inaudible) freedom day? All kids need freedom to grow big and strong.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (inaudible) high school loves my freedom day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, please do get involved. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your answer via text, photo, or video across social media using the
#myfreedomday. That is #myfreedomday hashtag.
We'll be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: You're back with Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson for you. Just after 10 to 8:00 here in the UAE.
Some of the biggest names in U.S. business have condemned Donald Trump's travel ban, and
some are going further than just speaking out. They are digging into their pockets.
Business and technology correspondent Samuel Burke joins us from London. Why do tech companies being so vocal about this when we've heard relatively
little from other industries?
SAMUEL BURKE, CNN MONEY: Becky, a cynic would say these companies are in left-leaning California. They were always against Trump. They openly
campaigned for Hillary Clinton for the most part.
But over the weekend I've been speaking to the CEOs of some of these companies.
Now, let me put up a list and you can see how many have come out against this Trump immigration ban.
Very rare that we see this many companies all talking -- using the same language and all on the same page here.
But really to answer your questions when I'm speaking to the heads of these companies, they say, listen, we are really borderless companies, very
different from other industries. We don't have factories. When Facebook or Google wanted to open up their businesses in
other countries, all they did was pull a lever and all of a sudden it was available there. And as someone who spends a lot of time in the Silicon
Valley, I can tell you everywhere you go on the campuses of these tech companies, Becky, you see foreign-born talent.
So, they have relationships with these people.
But I think at the end of the day what has stood out to me most is that these executives are saying this is bad for our business. It creates
uncertainty, and we all know businesses hate uncertainty.
ANDERSON: Which companies, then, are actually taking some action?
BURKE: Well, you just saw the list of the companies that are all speaking out. But actually the
few companies that are actually putting their money where their mouth is. You have Google donating $4 million to a crisis fund that's helping groups
like the American Civil Liberties Union, Lyft, which is a competitor to Uber, donating 1 million. And then you have companies like AirBnB, the CEO
of that company tweeting over the weekend that he thought that this was a very bad policy and as an immigrant himself, he wanted to take action. He
tells us and posted this tweet, "AirBnbB is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the U.S. Stayed tuned for more." He
actually put his email address on Facebook so people could contact him directly.
Now there is a page set up, so if somebody was heading to an airport now they have to stay extra time in the city or if a refugee or family thought
they were going to the United States soon, AirBnB is saying that they will help them and there will be no cost to these families.
ANDERSON: Got you. Thank you.
Right. As we were just talking about the ban that could lock some of the world's best and brightest minds out of the States, like Ali Abdi, a Ph.D
student at Yale.
For your Parting Shots, here is his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Chaos, confusion and outrage: U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order has sent shock waves around the world, barring citizens of
these seven Muslim-Majority countries from entering the U.S.
Also affected by the travel ban, green card holders currently outside of the United States, people like 30-year-old Ali Abdi, an Iranian Ph.D
student at Yale University who was passing through Dubai. He fears he won't be able to return to America.
You haven't yet tried to get back to the states, correct?
[10:55:34] ALI ABDI, IRANIAN PHD STUDENT AT YALE UNIVERSITY: I have not tried, but there are confirmed reports of Iranians with green cards who
have either been taken off from their plane from the point of departure or they have been banned from entering the U.S. after they arrive.
ANDERSON: Emotionally, how does this all make you feel?
Abdi: It makes me feel that I cannot consider U.S. home anymore. I mean, home for me is a country that I feel safe and comfortable and secure and
feel welcome. And I can also not go back to my home country Iran because of being political activist and human rights activist. The situation that
I am in now compared to thousands of other people whose lives are adversely and negatively affected by the current executive order is actually nothing.
There are families who are now torn. There are kids who are now taken away, I mean, already taken away from their parents.
ANDERSON: What is your message to President Trump?
ABDI: What you are doing is not making America safe again. You're making America unsafer because you're feeding the sentiments of racism and also
you're making people like me feel that America is not welcoming them anymore.
I was doing my Ph.D in the U.S. And I was going to contribute to American society, American
public by teaching there, but now that opportunity seems to be taken away from me.
ANDERSON: If you can't go back, what does Ali do next?
ABDI: I am not allowed to go to Iran, or if I am allowed, I will be in jail. Actually between jail and Yale I chose Yale.
So the future is unpredictable. I cannot tell you for sure what would happen.
ANDERSON: A sense of uncertainty, then, shared by thousands of people who have no idea what happens next.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And many still in limbo. I'm Becky Anderson. That was Connect the World. Thank you for joining us this hour. See you tomorrow. CNN
continues after this.
END
