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Connect the World
New U.S. Secretary of State Meets with Staff; Rex Tillerson Must Calm Lots of Situations; What Will Iranian's Response be to Trump's Rhetoric?; Muslim-American Activist Launches Meet a Muslim Conversations; Clashes as Israeli Police Evict Amona. 10:00-11:00a ET
Aired February 02, 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)
[10:00:13] REX TILLERSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: So help me, god.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNNI: Australia, Russia, Iraq, ISIS: America's new top diplomat is going to have a lot on his
plate. But perhaps most of all now Iran will be topping his list.
After a missile test like this over the weekend, Washington telling Tehran to watch its step, because it is now, quote, on notice.
And...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Donald Trump has done, the order he's made, is hurting me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: We'll introduce you to some Americans caught up in the fallout of their president's travel ban.
Wherever you are watching in the world. Hello and welcome to Connect the World. It's just after 7:00 here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. And
at this hour, all eyes on Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump has just finished speaking at the national prayer breakfast amid a myriad of global challenges, his secretary of
state, starting his first day at work after being confirmed on Wednesday evening.
Before Rex Tillerson gets down to business, he is expected to address State Department
employees when he arrives at Foggy Bottom. We will bring you that, as and when it happens.
Standing by for you on that. Up first, though, to friend and foe alike, President Trump has shown in his nearly two weeks as commander-in-chief
that he doesn't mince his words. No tiptoeing around, no beating around the bush. Mr. Trump is blunt in person, on the phone, and even in 140
characters on Twitter.
Well, now, an agreement between the U.S. and one of its closest allies is on shaky ground. Sources tell CNN, President Trump had a fiery exchange
with the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. David McKenzie walks us through the very latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sources telling CNN that Trump's phone call Saturday with Australia's prime minister, a close ally,
got heated. In the call, Trump questioned a deal to take in asylum seekers, the leak pushing the prime minister into a corner.
MALCOLM TURNBULL, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: I have seen the report. And I am not going to comment on the conversation. The president assured me
that he would continue with, honor the agreement.
MCKENZIE: The agreement, signed under President Obama, where the agreement signed up
President Barack Obama allowed more than 1,200 asylum seekers stuck on Nauru and Manus Islands
to be relocated into the U.S. Human rights groups have called the conditions in the Australian-run detention center appalling. One Iranian
they have called the conditions in the Australian-run detention centers appalling. One Iranian asylum seeker telling CNN, we are not toys
to play with.
But the deal grates with Trump's ban on refugees. And sources say Trump complained on the call that the asylum seekers, some already going through
strict vetting, could be the next Boston bomber.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Prime minister, good afternoon.
TURNBULL: Hey, great, Vin (ph). Good to be with you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it really great?
MCKENZIE: Turnbull went on talk radio to insist the deal was done after some Trump Twitter diplomacy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump says, do you believe it? The Obama administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from
Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal.
TURNBULL: Well, that is his tweet. I'm telling you what has been said to us and what's been said by his spokesman and what has been said by his
embassy.
MCKENZIE: An extraordinary squabble with one of America's closest allies.
Australia has fought alongside American troops in every major conflict since World War II. It is one of so the-called five eyes country that
widely shares intel with American security agencies.
But a government official familiar with Trump's calls with foreign leaders, says that when the president encounters a policy challenge, even with
friends, he responds, quote, with a tantrum.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: David McKenzie reporting for you.
Let's get you then to the U.S. State Department in Washington. Elise Labott, my colleague there with a closer look at the new Secretary of State
Rex Tillerson. As, Elise, we await his words to State Department staff. We are pretty sure he was with Donald Trump just in the past hour at the
National Prayer Breakfast. So, one assumes he's on his way over to the department.
Listen, U.S.-Australian relations just the start of it. In the past few minutes, we heard the president say, and I quote, the world is in trouble
but I'm going to sort it out. It's what I do. I fix things.
Well, his fix-it man on the international stage is Rex Tillerson going forward. Where does he start?
ELISE LABOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, it is a great question. At this point, it is kind of like whack-a-mole, I mean, that game, because there
are so many things that Rex Tillerson has to address.
Look, I think the first thing that he needs to do is calm the kind of near revolt that's going on here at the State Department. You remember in the
last couple of days, upwards of 1,000 career foreign service and civil service diplomats put a dissent letter, a scathing protest of President
Bush's (sic) visa ban and refugee policy for these -- and that ban for seven Muslim majority countries.
The State Department was completely left out of the loop of that draft of that executive order. You saw what the roll out was. Even the White House
now is admitting that it is not thrilled with the way this went down with all the chaos and confusion.
And these diplomats are saying, not only was that rollout terrible, but the policy is not going to
keep America safe. It's going to alienate the U.S. against -- from its allies who it needs in the war on terrorism, and combating ISIS and other
terror groups. It is going to increase anti-American sentiment. It's going to harm the U.S. economy. There is a lot of concern, not just about
the immigration policy but in this, kind of, eager, let's be generous, way that this administration is coming out with all these bold foreign policy
initiatives that allies are warning are upending 70 years of consistency in foreign policy and trying to establish a new world order.
So, he has his hands full here. Then, he has to address Australia. He has to address Mexico, where we just heard this conversation with President
Trump and the president there was very contentious.
He's got a lot work cut out for him in the next -- just as soon as he gets here.
ANDERSON: So what do we know about his positions on various issues, not least -- and you have just talked about U.S.-Australia relations, U.S.-
Mexico relations. Let me throw you another one, what about U.S.-Iran relations?
Just this morning as he got up, Donald Trump tweeting that he has put Iran on notice for
firing a ballistic missile. Should have been thankful for the terrible deal the U.S. made with them, he said.
Iran rapidly taking over more and more of Iraq even after the U.S. has squandered $3 trillion
there, he said in another quote, in another tweet. Obvious, long ago.
Is it clear, as of yet, where Rex Tillerson stands and whether he is aligned with or in any way
opposed to where Donald Trump stands on so many of these issues?
LABOTT: Well, I mean, to be honest, Becky, we don't even know if these tweets are kind of indicative of where Donald Trump really stands and what
that means about the policy. You saw yesterday, Mike Flynn, the national security adviser, put Iran on notice. We don't know what that means.
Obviously, the U.S. is very bent out of shape about this ballistic missile that appears to be a ballistic missile test from Iran just as the Obama
administration was and they imposed sanctions against Iran for those actions too.
Obviously, this is going to be a much more, tougher, more confrontational approach towards Iran. But it needs to be carefully considered. And I
think Rex Tillerson is someone who is seen as very pragmatic. He didn't tip his hand really about a lot of foreign policy issues in his
confirmation hearing, but clearly, he sees Iran as a threat.
But I think, you know, look, this is an oil man who worked a lot in the gulf. He -- oil is what they call geopolitics with a capital "G." And so
he has a good sense of the region and the hope is that working with Defense Secretary Mattis, CIA Director Pompeo, maybe they can
moderate and be a little bit more strategic about looking at these issues than the White House seems to be kind of running out of the gate without
that kind of thoughtful preparation.
ANDERSON: Elise, always a pleasure. Thank you. As we continue to monitor these images out of the State Department. The staff ready to welcome their
new boss as and when he hits -- I was going to say the stage, but it is probably the stairwell at the State Department. We will go live to that
for you viewers.
Mattis, one of the names that Elise just brought up for you.
Let me get you up to speed then on a couple of stories on our radar right now. And the newly confirmed U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis is in
South Korea right now on his first oversees trip as Pentagon trip. His trip comes ahead of U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system there.
He says North Korea is the only country that needs to be concerned, but China isn't convinced.
Well, the British government has formally set out details for its strategy for leaving the EU. A 77 page white paper, as they are known, has been
published, saying the government will seek a, quote, new strategic partnership with Europe.
Now, this comes after lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favor of a bill to invoke Article 50.
Nina Dos Santos is outside the houses of parliament in London. And no real surprise that this vote went in favor of the Brexit deal. Afterall, that
is what the just majority of the British public voted for and their lawmakers effectively voting with the general public, correct?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. 498 of them deciding to vote in favor of that historic Brexit bill, just 114
voting against. So, thought we did have some significant rebellions in some parties, notably, the opposition Labour Party, about 47 of those MPs
decided to defy their party and vote against it, when it comes to the Liberal Democrats and other opposition party in the House of Commons behind
me, a number of those MPs decided to abstain instead of actually voting against this bill as they had been ordered to by their whips.
But that means that this historic Brexit bill is now on its way through the parliamentary process that's going to be debated at various select
committees throughout the course of the next week or so, Becky, before eventually being passed into law, hopefully, that's what the government
hopes here.
And one of the things that's going to be informing the parliamentarians is this particular document that you referred to earlier. It's the 77-page
white paper that was published by the British government just a few hours earlier. What it does here is it aims to try
and flesh out a bit of meat on to the bones of those 12 guiding principles, or priorities that is
Theresa May put forward in her Lancaster House Brexit speech about a month or so ago. Those priorities include retaking control of Britain's borders
and its laws by abandoning the European Court of justice legislation. It also includes getting out to the single market, but keeping one foot inside
the customs area.
There are a number of things that aren't included inside this particular paper, though, and thatis what David Davis, the secretary of state for
exiting the EU, had to face down from opposition MPs. They said on the one hand the government had effectively pulled a fast one on them by putting
this forward in front of them, at the same time the debate, so they hadn't had a chance to scrutinize it properly. And the other big question they
have is what happen toss 2.8 million EU citizens living and working in the UK. The government says it is a priority, but it isn't laid out inside
this document -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Nina, thank you. Outside of Westminster, for you viewers.
Let's get you back to Washington. There must be some achy legs at Foggy Bottom. The staff at the State Department still awaiting on the arrival of
Rex Tillerson, their new boss, the Secretary of State, with capital letters and an exclamation mark. Then U.S. President Trump echoing his national
security adviser putting Iran, quote, on notice.
In a series of morning tweets, Trump wrote, Iran has been formally put on notice for firing that ballistic missile. Should have been thankful for
the terrible deal the U.S. made with them, end quot.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has the back story to the president's Twitter warning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Iran has admitted it recently test fired a medium-range ballistic missile, the first one since
the Trump administration took office.
The president's new national security adviser quickly voicing his anger and a threat.
MICHAEL FLYNN, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We are officially putting Iran on notice.
PLEITGEN: The U.S. maintains the test, which it says was a failure, violates a UN Security Council resolution. Iran says the missiles are
defensive weapons, not capable of carrying nuclear warheads and that the test was legal.
The conflict around the test indicates relations between Washington and Tehran could become more rocky after a relatively easing of tensions during
the Obama years, something many Iranian officials had hoped to avoid, saying Iran was taking a wait and see approach to President Donald Trump.
AMIR HUSSEIN ZAMANI NIA, IRANIAN DEPUTY OIL MINISTER: There is great potential for President Trump as a nonconventional politician to review
this situation, to revise the situation and to see that there is a great benefit.
[10:15:03] PLEITGEN: Even after the nuclear agreement that limits Iran's nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief, there have been conflicts
between the U.S. and Iran. Their navies regularly have incidents.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: From Fred for you. Let's get you to the State Department where Rex Tillerson
is about to address staff on the first day in his new job as Secretary of State. Let's listen in.
(REX TILLERSON STATE DEPARTMENT ADDRESS)
[10:26:52] ANDERSON: You've been listening to Rex Tillerson, who is the new secretary
of state, of course, addressing his staff on the first day in his new job with a joke about being late
from the national prayer meeting in Washington, which ran over perhaps he said because people
felt the need this year to pray just a little longer.
He clearly has a sense of humor, which is going to come in useful I guess in his role as America's top diplomat. The question is, where does he
start?
Our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is in London. CNN's Fred
Pleitgen is also in London, fresh from a reporting trip in Tehran. We know that U.S./Iranian relations front and center at the moment.
And it's from Tehran where we have Nasser Hadian joining us. He's a professional of international relations at Tehran University.
Christiane, first, Rex Tillerson on the first day on the job and just hours before he starts his
job, the president puts Iran on notice. What does Rex Tillerson do first?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you can see, that talk was distinctly not to the rest of the world, that talk
was to the people in that room and to the people of the United States. And actually that came along against a backdrop of a lot of disconcerted
foreign service officers in the State Department.
And he actually put their minds at rest. You know, people have been told in the State Department to get with the program or get out, that was Sean
Spicer, the White House spokesman. You know, there is dissent channel over the Muslim ban, all of that kind of stuff. So, he made it very clear that
he would listen to everybody. And he paid very homage to career foreign service officials who had been there.
But when it came to the other issues that have really exploded onto the international agenda, he didn't mention them at all, perhaps he wasn't
going to then. What does he do about Iran?
We are going to have to wait and see, because Flynn, the national security adviser saying we are putting Iran on notice came with very little notice
to many people around including apparently the military. And it is deliberately, according to some officials we have spoken to, deliberately
ambiguous. He didn't say or else, he didn't say what might happen. He just said, we are putting Iran on notice.
And it is known that this administration seeks to further bind Iran beyond the way they are bound by the nuclear agreement. They want to put missiles
in play. They want to put terrorism in play. This administration wants to get much, much tougher with Iran.
And to that end, there has already been a response from Iran. The former foreign secretary
there, foreign minister, who is very closely aligned with the more hard line elements, very closely aligned with Iran's supreme leader said, we
will vigorously continue with our missile activity and he threw a little bit of a jab at President Trump and talked about extremism in the United
States.
So, you know, there are a lot of foreign policy things, including the relationship with Australia, with President Putin, with Mexico, all sorts
of things which have been thrust into play barely two weeks into the Trump administration -- and China, of course.
[10:30:09] ANDERSON: Yeah, of course. And I'm going to come back to some of these other issues in a moment, Christiane. So please stand by.
Nasser, last night Iran's president blasted Mr. Trump's travel ban. Big story, roiling story, continues to be an important one. Let's have a
listen to exactly what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSAN ROUHANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Then how come your embassy has issued a visa, stamped it on a passport and signed under it and
then you say I don't accept that? You don't have the right to travel to my country. They have walked
on all international principles and commitments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Nasser, Mr. Rouhani has banked his presidency on opening up to the west. He is going to have a big fight on his hands for his own job in
four months time at the elections. Do you think he will be pushed to the right or that a right wing candidate will jump in ahead of him given the
context of these U.S.-Iran relations and how they seem to be developing as of this point?
NASSER HADIAN, TEHRAN UNIVERSITY: And it all depends what would happen in the next few months. But all things considered, and considering the
situation right now, I guess he is in a safe position. And he can be reelected relatively easily. Because if basically what the U.S. is doing
if to some extent goes the way it has been going, I guess he has a good chance, because think that he is an
experienced politician and right now the time is somehow tension within times and President Rouhani with experience can basically overcome this
process.
Of course, hard-liners try to make a case that the soft position, which President Rouhani has presented has not helped us and has not helped us and
will not help us. Thus, we have to stand firm against the United States and we are better off if we stand firm and we
will be able to secure the country much better.
But what extent people will buy that argument I guess is not very high now. I don't see that, you know, majority of the Iranians will buy that
argument. So far, I can say Rouhani is in a safe position.
ANDERSON: Fascinating.
All right, so if that were to be the case, then, at least the U.S. administration knows who they may be dealing with going forward. At least
they know who they will be dealing with for the next four months.
Fred, you have been in and out of Iran a number of times over the past couple of years. To suggest that the nuclear deal had normalized U.S.-Iran
relations would be way too simplistic, wouldn't it? But how do you assess what you are seeing out of the administration to date on Iran? And to that
end, we know that Rex Tillerson has an awful lot of experience as an oil man over the years, both he and Trump will likely be more transactional in
their dealings, people say, than perhaps others in the administration in the past. What's your sense of what happens next?
PLEITGEN: Well, it is very difficult to say, but I think you are absolutely right. It is very interesting to see that when you look at the
tweets that Donald Trump put out there, the very moment that he said that he is putting Iran on notice, he always keeps mentioning the nuclear
agreement as well, saying that it was a terrible deal for America, saying that Iran should be thankful for that nuclear agreement.
But of course, the truth on the ground is one that's a lot more complicated on that. First of all, one of the things that the current administration
in the U.S. never really gets is the fact that this is not an agreement between the U.S. and Iran, it is an agreement between the
U.S., several other countries, the permanent members of the Security Council and Germany and then Iran,
and all of them have come together to forge this agreement.
And a lot of those other countries are currently doing business with Iran and currently beginning to do business with Iran. You have French
automakers who are going back into Iran and starting to build cars there. You have oil companies from China, from Russia that are trying to get back
into the game there as well. And then, of course, you have the big air companies, the big airplane makers, Boeing and Airbus who are also going
back into the countries and have signed massive deals.
So, putting that agreement in jeopardy or calling it into question, or wanting to change it is not something that's as easily done as I think the
Trump administration seems to be hinting at.
Now, at the same time, of course, we have to keep in mind -- I think we have discussed it here, is that not everybody in Iran is happy with that
agreement as well. It certainly hasn't brought the economic benefits so far to many Iranians that they have hoped. That's something that has a
little bit weakened the position of Psresident Hassan Rouhani.
And at the but helps the more hard-line elements in Iran who said, look, what has this actually given to us. And they, of course, have no problem
putting it on the line when it comes to a standoff or a potential standoff with the Trump administration.
So, I do think the next couple of months, especially until the presidential election in Iran are going to be very, very interesting to see which way
things go to see if there are more confrontations, especially looking at the Persian Gulf where, of course, you have U.S. and Iranian warships in
very close proximity all the time. You have run-ins there between those two all the time.
If there is some sort of big escalation there, then of course things could change very, very quickly.
But certainly, the things that the Trump administration at this point is hinting at, the fact
that they think that the Iran deal is bad that it can be reversed or renegotiated in some way, shape, or form, things are a lot more complicated
than that and certainly there's a lot of other countries at play that don't want to renegotiate it at all.
[10:36:10] ANDERSON: So, Christiane, to Fred's point, we are hearing the U.S. administration under President Trump hinting at things, perhaps we go
further than to suggest that these seem to be more than hints.
But say they are, say this is a transactional president who thinks the way to go about things is the way that he would do his business, to throw
things around, to wind people up a little bit, not to really show his hand, to show a hand that isn't really the complete hand. How difficult a job is
Rex Tillerson, for example, going to have on his hands if he is effectively
playing fix-it man or sweep-up man for what his president does in the middle of the night in 140 characters on Twitter?
AMANPOUR: Well, let's just break it down into two little segments there. I found Rex Tillerson's speech just now to be almost the anti-Trump, right
down to paying tribute to the fallen foreign service officers at the State Department. He mentioned the wall. He mentioned their names. He said he
was going himself to pay tribute.
You remember when he went to the CIA, President Trump and was roundly criticized for making a political speech right in front of the wall where
former -- so that was very, very important, sort of how he plans to be different, maybe the grown-up, maybe the diplomat. But it is still too
early to know the specific policies.
But I think on issues, for instance, such as the disruptive quality that President Trump has prided himself on bringing to domestic policy and
foreign policy, we've seen how that went with Mexico, right. So, a lot of Twitter and a lot of practically broken relations. I mean, not quite.
But, you know, the Mexican president was forced to cancel a state visit to Washington. And they are still not quite all there on how to do
immigration, what about the wall, all of that. And the latest set of tweets
from Trump about potentially sending in the military, again all of that has got to be confirmed.
But you get the point. There's a lot of alienation of allies, not just adversaries, allies. The alleged heated conversation with the Australian
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. We now hear from Turnbull that actually despite the reading about this conversation that he says President Trump
committed to actually honoring that deal on taking refugees that have been made under the Obama administration.
And then, let's go back to Iran. One has to remember that during the Bush administration, who was -- you know, you had a reformed president in power
then, Khatami . Bush comes out and calls Iran the access of evil and this and that. One thing leads to another and you get a very hard line Iranian
President, Ahmadinejad. That led to eight years of belligerence between the United States, the west and Iran. And it was only after Ahmadinejad
was elected out of office, under President Obama's administration, Rouhani comes in and all of a sudden you get serious about a political channel on
one of the most important issues, and that is the nuclear program of Iran.
These are very important things to keep in mind, because if there was to be a huge amount of belligerence from the United States that cracked this
nuclear deal, you just don't know who is going to end up in power in Iran and what that could lead to in the future.
So, it's very important, we are being told, that the actual Iran nuclear deal, you've notice they haven't really been talking about it. General
Flynn didn't said anything about it, President Trump hasn't. They are not right now talking about tearing it up, because it actually guarantees that
under the next eight years or four of this administration, the nuclear issue won't be an issue under international protection and safeguards.
So despite a lot of the noise, it is going to be very interesting to see actually what changes and what happens.
[10:40:07] ANDERSON: Thank you, Christiane. Nasser, considering what Christiane has just said, I wonder what is the sense on the ground in Iran?
What is the man on the street telling us?
HADIAN: We believe that also there is very few chance that President Obama -- President Trump's administration is going to tear up the agreement
simply because it is unwise and there are other ways to achieve their objectives, which I have already mentioned, there are other places. There are three strategies they are going to adopt. First
is going to -- they are going to interpret the JCPOA in one (inaudible) way and reinforce and force basically the implementation in
a much more robust way.
Number two, is that they are going to pass sanctions on different names like for missile programs like the human rights or for Iran's regional
behavior. And these are going to be -- the sanctions are going to be passed under these names.
And the third strategy would be basically sanctioned different estates individually within the
United States are going to pass sanctions laws against Iran. So, these are much more plausible course of actions for the administration, for Trump
administration, than just simply tearing it up, because that would serve Christiane has said, that would serve basically hardliner's interest in
Iran and that's a very welcome -- that would be very much a welcome news here if Obama -- if President Trump basically do
that.
But the next point which I would like to address is about basically putting Iran on notice. As you mentioned, you know, normally, such a kind of
statements are going to come not always, but normally in an ambiguous way to put the other sides to guess. So that will basically be Iran's response
as well. The Iranians are going to respond first of all against -- either of noise, just one or two individuals, most problem is that (inaudible) is
going to respond. And the response is going to be basically very much a legal response that, you know, the UN resolution would not prohibit from
testing the missiles.
But most importantly, it is going -- they are going to dismiss and ignore it all together right
after that interview. For the other side to guess. In other words, they are going to leave it for the other side to guess. The responses are going
to be ambiguous from the Iranian port. And the U.S. is going to be in a position to guess what would be the actions of Iran regarding
the next...
ANDERSON: All right. OK. I'm going to need -- I really appreciate what you are saying, and you are making some really, really valid points. I am
going to have you back on. I need to take a short break, pay for this program. We've been in a of breaking news, but it has been fantastic to
get you in, Tehran. Great discussion with my colleagues as well and all of you, appreciate it very much. We are taking a break. Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:45:32] ANDERSON: Right, you're back with us. And if you are just joining us, this is Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson. It is quarter
to 8:00 in Abu Dhabi. For the first time in almost two decades, Israel planning to build a new settlement in the West Bank.
Palestinians call the move illegal behavior by an occupying power. Arab Nations are appealing to the UN for help but are not optimistic. Well,
Oren Liebermann joining us now from Jerusalem with the details -- Oren.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn't give too many details about this new settlement,
only saying he has formed a team to figure out where to put it, but it is clear he wants to move quickly on this one to establish a new settlement.
It would be the first new settlement since the mid to late '90s.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already announced the expansion of existing settlements with some 5,500 new units, but this is a step beyond
that.
So why the timing? First, it seems clear that Netanyahu is relying on the cover of President Donald Trump who hasn't criticized either the new
settlement or the settlement expansion. But it also seems that Netanyahu has to appease his right wing voter base, especially as he's evacuating the
illegal outpost of Amon in the West Bank, that's where we spent the last two days. And this is how that evacuation went down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They never intended to go peacefully, the protesters who had barricaded themselves inside the
synagogue, a last stand against police.
The evacuation of the illegal Amona outpost started 24 hours earlier. Hundreds of settlers pushing back against police at every step, lighting
fires on the road to slow down the officers. A few of the families left willingly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel hurt. I feel betrayed. I feel my government has betrayed me. And I am praying to god to be with us. And I know we
will come back here. I know we will return here.
LIEBERMANN: As evening set in, a prayer for strength as protesters vowed to keep resisting. The final home evacuated in the morning, then police
turned to the synagogue. The settler youth inside attacking police with metal bars and releasing gas that choked the officers. Police began a
seemingly chaotic assault on all the building from all sides, dragging out the protesters one by one.
The most hardcore of the protesters who had barricaded themselves inside the synagogue, had to be carried out by force. They refused to walk out on
their own feet, police grabbing their arms and legs as they were kicking and punching trying to resist this evacuation as
much as they could.
With the last of the settlers removed, police bust them off the hill only for some of them to escape a few minutes later.
In Amona, a relative calm returned to the synagogue, the chains protesters used to tie themselves to the columns still there. On the wall, a swastika
with the Israeli police symbol in the middle, the eviction a setback for the settlers who pray they will return.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIEBERMANN: There will be another eviction just coming up in a few days at the nearby settlement of Ofra (ph), a few homes evicted there. We will see
how that plays out and see if it is as chaotic and difficult as this one -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Oren Liebermann reporting for you. Thank you, Oren.
We are getting new insight into Sunday's deadly raid on an al Qaeda compound in central Yemen. The aim of the mission was to collect as much
intelligence on the terror group as possible, but by the time it was over, an American commander and 13 civilians were dead, and a $75 million
aircraft had been destroyed on purpose.
The raid was President Trump's first military engagement since taking office. And despite the casualties, he was quick to call it a success.
And we want to share some photographs with you that officials in Yemen say show the
aftermath of the raid. First, a warning, these are very graphic and you may find them disturbing.
I'm going to pause for a moment.
Well, you can see what appears to be a home with the windows blown out and a wall covered
with bullet holes. Then the images become graphic. Yemeni officials say children were among the civilians killed during the anti-terror operation.
Media loyal to both sides of the conflict in Yemen published these photographs.
Well, I'm joined now from the Pentagon by Ryan Brown. What do we know about the details of this attack? Who sanctioned it and why?
[10:50:19] RYAN BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Designed to gather intelligence as part of what is called the site exploitation raid. And because of its
complexity, it was months in the making. So, during the Obama administration is actually when this plan for this mission started coming
together.
Now, because of operational reasons, mainly the need for an absence of moonlight to help conceal the mission, the operation was delayed until
Donald Trump became president. Now, Trump had to greenlight the mission. The military wanted to make sure that they had his authority to carry it
out.
And, you know, what happened despite that wait to get rid of that moonlight, they were detected by al Qaeda and therefore the joint U.S./UAE
force was engaged in a massive firefight with al Qaeda fighters that the military now saying that there was likely civilian casualties caused,
including potentially children, when an airstrike was called against the al Qaeda fighters.
They were mingled in a building apparently with what looks to be civilians. The military says that al Qaeda has used human shields in the past. This
is something that they may have been doing here.
And as you mentioned, as well, while they were trying to evaluate some wounded Navy SEALs after this fire fight, their aircraft suffered a
technical malfunction and the military had to destroy that in order to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.
That being said, a lot went awry. The military is saying the intelligence gleaned from some
of the hard drives obtained in the raid is providing insight into the terror group which the military thinks is al Qaeda's most capable affiliate
that is still plotting terror attacks against the west.
ANDERSON: Should the Trump administration have not wanted this operation to go ahead, they needn't of greenlit it, right, correct?
BROWN: They did need to greenlight it. And in fact, President Obama decided to defer authorization to President Trump once they realized that
the target window, the ideal window for the operation would occur during Donald Trump's presidency.
Now, even if Obama had greenlit it before the kind of change of administrations, the military would have still sought Trump's approval for
this operation given its sensitivity, given its difficulty.
ANDERSON: We're going to leave it there, sir. Thank you. Details from Ryan in Washington
for you.
We will be back right after this very, very quick break. Do stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Oh, the good life.
Less than two weeks out of the White House, and Barack Obama clearly trading up, swapping freezing Washington for the Caribbean where he is
hanging out on the billionaire, Richard Branson's private island.
Of course, with everything that is going on in Washington, it is easy to see why Obama might just want to forget about it all for a while.
But for Muslims across America, it will be much harder to get all the uncertainty off their minds. That's something almost half of all Americans
who have never met a Muslim may not understand so well.
But one woman, well, she is trying to change all of that. These are your Parting Shots this evening.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[10:55:12] ANDERSON: Meet Moina Shaiq (ph), she's a Muslim woman from Pakistan. And on this day, she is speaking with a church group in Atlanta.
A U.S. resident for 38 years and a mother of four, since 9/11 she has been on a mission to combat misconceptions about Muslims.
MOINA SHAIQ, MUSLIM-AMERICAN ACTIVIST: For the most part, Muslims got underground, basically, because they were very scared. I decided that I'm
not going to do that. I'm going to get out and educate my fellow Americans about who Muslims are. Because I realize for the most part, people in
America don't know Muslims.
ANDERSON: There are 1.8 million Muslim in the U.S., but nearly half of U.S. adults say they don't personally know any. Shaiq says, because of
that, there are many misconceptions about Islam, which is why she began touring the country with her "meet a Muslim"
initiative.
SHAIQ: Why are women oppressed in Islam? What is the difference between Shia and Sunni. What is Shariah law, you can ask all these questions.
ANDERSON: She says she has conducted over 50 of these discussions since January, 2016.
SHAIQ: I started doing "Meet a Muslim" conversation after the San Bernardino shootings.
And so I thought, I will go and put an ad in the paper, in a local paper, and go sit in a coffee shop and see if somebody comes.
There were over 100 people at the first event.
ANDERSON: She says, no question is off the table.
SHAIQ: ISIS is the same as KKK, it is exactly the same thing. Now, would anybody call KKK
Christians? No. Nobody in the right mind would call them Christian. The same thing, ISIS is doing
things in the name of Islam, but it is completely contrary to the teachings of Islam.
ANDERSON: She questions the true faith of those who have been classified as radicalized.
SHAIQ: The concept that people who are getting radicalized are very Islam observant, I think it is the contrary of that, because when you make
connection with god five times a day and you pray, and you repent and you ask for forgiveness, you can't be radicalized, you can't hurt people.
ANDERSON: After the hour-long discussion, Shaiq spends more time greeting the people who came today. And her message is simple.
SHAIQ: Just get to know a Muslim. If you have never met a Muslim, make an effort to get to know one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: What a very busy hour for you today.
Let us know what you thought of today's show. Lots going on. You can browse over to Facebook.com/CNNconnect. You can get in touch with me
@Beckycnn on Twitter.
I'm Becky Anderson. That was Connect the World. From the team here, it's a very good evening. We will be back at the same time on Sunday. CNN goes
on right now.
END
