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The Final Push for Mosul; Yates Warned White House Flynn Was a Blackmail Risk; Obama Returns to Public Spotlight at Milan Summit; Moon Jae-in Declares Victory; Wife of American Detainee in North Korea Pleads for His Release; Kimmel Answers Critics of His Emotional Health Care Plea. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired May 09, 2017 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): God save us from that rotten gang. And this is what has become of Mosul.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: After seven grueling months, Iraq could -- about to be finally take back control of its second largest city. We'll bring
you an incredible report from inside Mosul. That is right ahead and (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SALLY YATES, FORMER ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We believe that General Flynn was compromised with respect to the Russians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Once America's top law enforcement officer, now telling lawmakers that Trump's top security guy wasn't Kosher (ph) but that the
White House seem -- it seems didn't care -- the details later and.Whether the white house it seems didn't care. The details later. And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY KIMMEL, COMEDIAN: No parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their child's life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: It was a heartaching appeal, speaking for millions of Americans. And now, Jimmy Kimmel is speaking up about U.S. health care again. What he
is saying is just ahead.
All right. Hello and welcome to "Connect the World." I'm Becky Anderson. We're in Abu Dhabi.
It is just after 7:00 o'clock in the evening here. It is -- or it has become commonplace in war reporting to say how often do you hear the phrase
"the final push," only for that so-called push to become painfully protracted and often anything but final.
Well, now, think about what it must feel like for people living through those conflicts -- survivors, and all too often victims like in Iraq's
Mosul, where seven months of fighting against ISIS has seen most of the city recaptured. But as Ben Wedeman now reports, civilians are running for
their lives ahead of what Iraqi forces are calling the final phase of the battle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Barely able to see through the blinding dust, West Mosul residents trudge (ph) to safety. So thousands have fled
in the past days.
"We have escaped from death," says this man. Three-month-old Merriam (ph) was carried out by her uncle. Miserable is how he describes life in the
city under siege now for months.
"God save us from that rotten gang," Abu Hussein (ph) tells me, referring to ISIS. With little food or medicine left, hundreds of thousands remain
trapped in the city.
Iraqi forces have established what they call safe passages for fleeing civilians. Safe, however, may not be the best way to describe them.
On the hill above, soldiers fire rockets over the civilian's heads into the city. And this is what has become of Mosul.
An ISIS car bomb goes up in flames at the edge of the Mosherfa (ph) neighborhood. Iraqi forces launched this latest operation last Thursday
morning from the north and the northwest.
"Be careful," Major Mustafa Laso (ph), he warns his troops. "Watch out for booby traps." A lone black banner of the extremists flutters in the hot
wind.
The bombardment is unrelenting.
This is the final push in the battle for Mosul, a battle that began in the middle of October last year. At the time, Iraqi officials said it would be
over by the end of 2016.
Now, it's well into its seventh month. In a nearby operations room, the Iraqi officers and the American advisers directed drone over the city.
Unlike in the past, the Americans on the ground like Lieutenant Colonel Jim Browning (ph) can now direct air strikes without waiting for approval from
senior officers in the rear (ph).
JAMES BROWNING, LIEUTENANT COLONEL, U.S. ARMY: All it requires is me to be able to see it with my partner. And once we are able to kind of
communicate and say yes, that's is emphatically an enemy and we are under threat, let's deliver a strike.
[11:05:06]
And let's deliver it quick.
WEDEMAN: Iraqi leaders are hoping to regain full control of Mosul by the start of the month of Ramadan in late May. But Lieutenant General Kasam
Nasser (ph) of the Iraqi army's ninth armor division, which is leading the fight, is more cautious.
"Timetables in conventional warfare are possible," he says. "But this is guerilla warfare, with a well-trained enemy using snipers, booby traps and
car bombs.
And as always, civilians are caught in the middle, struggling to survive, struggling to escape.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And it's that, as always, that makes this such a big story and one we will not lose sight of. Ben joining us now from Erbil in Northern
Iraq.
This, the final, phase, Ben, as it is being described, means what in real terms?
WEDEMAN: In real terms, it means that ISIS will no longer control territorially any part of the city of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.
That doesn't mean there won't be a threat from ISIS in the future within the city because as we've seen in the eastern side, which was fully
liberated in January of this year, there is still a threat of suicide bombers.
There are sleeper cells. So certainly, it will be an important landmark in the battle to crush ISIS. But in terms of Mosul, it will still be a
dangerous place in many ways, even when ISIS' black banner no longer flies over the city.
And it's important to also remember that there are still parts of Iraq that are still under ISIS' control, the city of Hawija, in the central part of
the country, and a town of Tel Afad (ph), which is halfway between Mosul and the Syrian border.
So it's an important milepost in this war against ISIS. But it's not over. Becky?
ANDERSON: And, Ben, what is the story on the ground with regard people feeling safe enough, then, should this final phase be successful to go
home? And whether ISIS has gotten rid of entirely or not, what is the picture so far as the sectarian divide is concerned on the ground?
WEDEMAN: Well, actually, if you go to East Mosul, which I said was liberated officially in January of this year, what you see is an amazing
return to normal life. Shops are open. The streets are full of people.
There's a lot of work getting the city up and running again. They still have problems with electricity cuts and water cuts and whatnot.
But it's still happening. As far as the sectarian divide goes, it's important to keep one little statistic I recently learned in mind. And
that is, in 2003, 40 percent of the marriages registered in the city of Baghdad were mixed.
They were between Shia and Sunni. And therefore, even though there are divisions -- sectarian divisions between Sunni and Shia and between the
Kurds and the rest of the country, there is an Iraqi sense -- state of mind.
And perhaps as a result of this battle, where we have seen Shia troops from Southern Iraq fighting and dying to free the predominantly Sunni city of
Mosul, there are those who see a twinkling of hope that perhaps someday, the sectarian tensions that do exist in some quarters in this country will
disappear.
That's the optimistic scenario. There are others who are worried that once ISIS is out of the way, the other tensions that do exist could become more
intense. Becky?
ANDERSON: Well, it's good to hear that sense of optimism, should that be how it plays out. Meantime, on the Syrian side of the Iraqi border, of
course, still a huge fight to be had against ISIS at this point, correct?
WEDEMAN: Yes, that's very much an ongoing battle. What we have seen is fairly good progress by the so-called SDF, the Syrian Democratic Forces,
which are predominantly made up of Kurds backed by the U.S.
They are in the process of retaking the town of Tapha (ph) which is just upriver from Raqqah. And, of course, United States says they are behind it
all the way.
However, keep in mind, there are these difficulties between Turkey and the Kurds in Syria.
[11:10:00]
The United States backs the Kurds. The Turks are vehemently opposed to any sort of Kurdish entity in Northern Syria. So that's a whole different
complicated bucket of problems in addition to what's going on here in Iraq. Becky?
ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman in Iraq for you this evening. Ben, much appreciated, thank you.
All right, let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now. And what was seen as a test of religious tolerance
in Indonesia, the governor of the capital, Jakarta, has been sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy.
Now, he is Christian, almost found guilty of insulting Muslim after quoting a verse from the Quran. An edited video of what he said caused huge
protests.
Well, the rap superstar, Nicki Minaj is offering to pay college fees for some of her fans after one fan asked for help and then (ph) said, she was
on board if they were getting straight As. She's already sent out cash to about 30 students.
And she says she will try to help out more in a few months' time. In Venezuela, a surreal moment during ongoing protests, a violinist played the
country's national anthem as tear gas canisters flew around him.
It happened near a crowded square in the capital of Caracas and comes just a week after another violinist was killed after protests turned violent.
New information revealed that a hearing on Capitol Hill is raising more questions today about the fall of Michael Flynn, a man who was entrusted
with top secret information as the U.S. national security adviser.
Well, former Attorney General, Sally Yates, testified that she warned the White House that Flynn had been quote, "compromised by Russia" and was
giving misleading statements about his contacts. She says at one point, the White House Counsel asked her why it would matter to the Justice
Department if one White House official lied to another, as (ph) Jessica Schneider reports some lawmakers want to know why it took President Donald
Trump several weeks to fire Flynn after Yates' extraordinary warning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YATES: We felt like it was critical that we get this information to the White House. We believed that General Flynn was compromised with respect
to the Russians.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sally Yates testifying she urgently warned the White House on three separate occasions that former National
Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, misled Vice President Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.
YATES: Not only did we believe that the Russians knew this but that they likely had proof of this information. And that created a compromise
situation, a situation where the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians.
SCHNEIDER: Her testimony directly contradicting the White House's muted account in mid-February.
SEAN SPICER, PRESS SECRETARY, WHITE HOUSE: The acting attorney general informed the White House Counsel that they wanted to give, quote, "a heads-
up to us."
SCHNEIDER: Yates explaining that she stressed to White House Counsel Don McGhan that Flynn had engaged in problematic conduct just two days after
President Trump's inauguration.
YATES: We told them that we were giving them all of this information so that they could take action.
SCHNEIDER: But President Trump didn't take action, waiting 18 days to fire Flynn, only after Flynn's false statements became public.
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: Michael Flynn might still be there, but for "The Washington Post" report that, in effect, shamed them
into getting rid of him.
SCHNEIDER: President Trump attempting to downplay the hearing in a tweet storm Monday night, pointing to former director of National Intelligence,
James Clapper's testimony that he has seen no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia before he retired in January.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that still accurate?
JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: It is.
SCHNEIDER: But Clapper noted that he was unaware of the FBI's investigation until it was announced publicly by James Comey in March.
Hours before the hearing, CNN learned that President Obama warned Trump against hiring Flynn just two days after he was elected when the two men
met in the oval office.
SPICER: President Obama made it known that he wasn't exactly a fan of General Flynn's, which is frankly shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone
given that General Flynn had worked for President Obama, was an outspoken critic of President Obama's shortcomings.
SCHNEIDER: Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, continuing to blame Obama for the Trump administration's failure to properly vet Flynn.
SPICER: If (ph) President Obama was truly concerned about General Flynn, why didn't he suspend General Flynn's security clearance?
SCHNEIDER: But Clapper challenging that assertion saying Flynn's high- profile position would typically require extensive vetting.
CLAPPER: The vetting process for either a political appointee or someone working in the White House is far, far more invasive and far, far more
thorough than a standard TSSCI (ph) clearance process.
[11:15:07]
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: So as Jessica was reporting there, according to sources, former President Barack Obama himself warned Donald Trump about Michael Flynn.
But we really had heard very little from Barack Obama since he left office.
But today, the former U.S. president returned to the spotlight -- a public spotlight for a rare talk. And he said -- well, he certainly had plenty to
say -- appearing relaxed at a conference in Milan and ditching his usual tie, Mr. Obama addressed two of the biggest issues impacting the future of
mankind -- food security and climate change.
CNN's International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson, is live in Milan with the details.
Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Becky, what he was doing here was really combining two issues that have been very
important to him in his presidency. Perhaps his biggest overseas signature accomplishment was the COP21 Agreement, the climate change agreement in
Paris late in 2015.
And earlier on his presidency, he had the Feed the Future Initiative in 2009, aimed to get better quality nutrition for children around the world.
It affected millions of children, helped millions of children in -- in many different countries.
But also, Michelle Obama as well contributed with the Happy Healthier Kids at School Act in 2010, something President Trump has also sort of taken aim
at, if you will, as well as President Obama's signature domestic achievement in his eyes, at least the Affordable Care Act. So you know,
although President Obama here wasn't speaking about President Trump, it was very clear in his message about climate change and how much change is
happening, a rise of three feet in sea levels, whatever else we do now, it could potentially rise further, and the need to better produce food for the
future for a growing population and improve that production because agricultural production, food production, he said, also contributed to
climate change.
All of these big, big issues wrapped up here in his keynote speech but he said, make no mistake, this is important. If it isn't addressed, more
conflicts, more refugees coming.
This is how he put it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Our changing climate is already making it more difficult to produce food. In fact, some of the refugee
flows into Europe originate not only from conflict, but also from places where there are food shortages that will get far worse as climate change
continues.
So if we don't take the action necessary to slow and ultimately stop these trends, the migration that has put such a burden on Europe already will
just continue to get worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: So perhaps, his audience might have been in part (ph) on the climate change issue. President Trump and his audience here, government
ministers, business leaders, innovators, the people that this conference wants to help inspire to take on this very big challenge that President
Obama really seems to be putting his back into, Becky.
ANDERSON: Nic Robertson in Milan in Italy. Thank you, Nic. We are up and swinging from Abu Dhabi this evening for you.
Just ahead, liberal Moon Jae-in declares victory in South Korea's presidential election. We are live in Seoul for you after this very short
break.
And a wife fears the very worst after her husband, an American professor, is detained in North Korea. Short break, back after this.
[11:18:51]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:21:21]
ANDERSON: A rock star welcome for the democratic party candidate, Moon Jae-in in Seoul -- he has just declared victory in what is the presidential
election there. Turnout for this pivotal vote was the highest since 1997.
Nearly 34 million South Koreans cast ballots, the election following a long period of political turbulence as you'll be well aware of in South Korea.
For months, protesters called for the impeachment of this woman, the embattled president finally forced from office in March and now awaiting
trial on corruption charges.
Ivan Watson joining me now live from Seoul where that victory was just declared.
And how significant is this? And what, Ivan, will be the likely consequences?
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this would be a political shift if Moon Jae-in is the winner, as he has declared himself, though only about 41
percent of the votes have been formally counted so far, because it would mark the end of nearly 10 years of conservative government in South Korea
to a liberal, a left-wing politician. So that's a -- that's a big change.
Oh, and as you can see, we're in downtown Seoul where people are gathered to see the election results. Over here, with these lanterns, that's a
symbol of the election that -- that kind of half peace sign.
And that's the stamp that people get on their hands after they have cast their ballots, as you mentioned, large voter turnout, the highest in some
20 years. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that this was a very crowded field of competitors.
So Moon Jae-in, according to the early results, has won around 40 percent of the vote. But rivals, though they haven't come close to that, if you
add them up, more people voted for a different candidate than they voted for Moon Jae-in himself who, again, has already declared himself the victor
in this election.
One of the key issues according to surveys was transparency in government and corruption, a sign that the impeachment of the former president, Park
Geun-hye, that that impeachment and scandal has loomed large over this election. Becky?
ANDERSON: That -- that may be the critical domestic issue upon which people have voted. Internationally, it will be this next president's North
Korea file that most administrations around the world will be fascinated by.
How or what should we expect next?
WATSON: Well, this is -- it's the -- the left in Korea -- South Korea has traditionally (ph) been more interested in a diplomatic approach to
Pyongyang. And that's something that Moon Jae-in has promised in his election campaign.
He said that the previous policy of confrontation had failed. And he said, I agree with the Trump administration.
And keep in mind that the U.S. is South Korea's closest ally. And it is the Trump administration that has said the former Obama administration's
policy of strategic patience is a failure.
So that's something that we may expect to see now. He will -- if he's the winner, will have to walk a delicate line between Kim Jong-il, the supreme
leader of North Korea -- it's Kim Jong-un, rather, and Donald Trump, the commander-in-chief of the U.S. who's been rather unpredictable, Becky.
And when it comes to the U.S. in the Korean Peninsula, in the past 48 hours, we've learned of the detention of one more U.S. citizen, a Korean-
American.
[11:25:04]
And I spoke with his very worried, very anxious and very frightened wife. Take a look at this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: Imagine finding out your spouse was just detained in North Korea. That's what happened to Kim Mi-ok last weekend after she waited at a train
station in China for her husband to return from a business trip to North Korea.
KIM MI-OK (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I waited until the last passenger let the train. The train doors closed (ph) but he didn't come out.
WATSON: On Sunday, North Korea announced Kim's husband, Kim Hak-song was detained, suspected of hostile acts against the government. His wife says
he's been falsely accused.
Here's her message to the North Korean government.
MI-OK: I hope this detention issue is solved in a humanitarian way and he is sent back to our family.
WATSON: Kim's husband is an agricultural expert and Christian evangelical pastor, as well as a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Pyongyang?
MI-OK: Yes, Pyongyang.
WATSON: He was in North Korea teaching techniques for growing rice at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. The North Koreans detained
Kim barely two weeks after they detained Tony Kim (ph), another U.S. citizen who was teaching at the same university.
There are at least two other U.S. citizens in North Korean custody -- businessman, Kim Dong Chul (ph) and university student, Otto Warmbier, each
serving sentences of at least a decade of hard labor, their plight complicated by the ongoing confrontation between Washington and Pyongyang
over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. This worried wife has a message for her husband.
MI-OK: Honey, I believe 100 percent that you people with love. I hope you stay strong there and hoe you can return to your family very soon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: So Becky, I think that the scene here and the report we just saw just highlights how huge the difference is between North Korea and South
Korea. North Korea pursuing nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, hunting for what it claims are foreign spies and here, people celebrating this man
wearing the mask, looks like Moon Jae-in celebrating their democratic freedom to elect their own government versus North Korea, which has one of
the world's worst human rights record, a stark contrast between these two neighbors on the Korean Peninsula.
Becky?
ANDERSON: And Ivan Watson now reporting for you from Seoul. Thank you, Ivan. Get you up to speed on the latest world news headlines in just a
moment, viewers.
Plus (ph) remembering a war when Russians and Americans fought on the same side. We are in Moscow for the annual victory day as relations with
Washington continue to sour.
[11:28:19]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:31:00]
ANDERSON: You're watching "Connect the World." I'm Becky Anderson for you in Abu Dhabi.
Our top stories for you this hour, and former acting U.S. Attorney General, Sally Yates, says she sounded the alarm several times about Michael Flynn
while he was national security adviser, alerting the White House that he had been, quote, "compromised by Russia" and was vulnerable to blackmail.
President Donald Trump is dismissing Yates' testimony before a Senate panel as old news.
Democratic party candidate, Moon Jae-in, has just declared victory in South Korea's presidential election. Now, he has pledged to overhaul South
Korea's relationship with the North.
Voter turnout was the highest in South Korea since 1997. More U.S. troops could be headed to Afghanistan.
President Trump due to get proposal this week for a planned troop increase, military leaders expected to suggest between three to 5,000 additional
boots on the ground to train Afghan forces and to fight the Taliban. The long wars in Afghanistan are something Russia knows all about.
The Soviet Union fought a bitter and costly war against U.S.-backed insurgency there in the 1980s before enduring a damaging withdrawal. Fast
forward, just on the 30 years, and the (ph) U.S. and Russia once again on opposite sides in a foreign war, this time in Syria.
So as Moscow rolls out its military hardware in its annual victory day parade, some in Washington watching perhaps a little more closely than
usual. For more on this reminder of a war when Russians and Americans fought on the same side, Diana Magnay is in Moscow with more.
Diana?
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Becky. Well, victory day is a celebratory holiday here to commemorate the victory but also a solemn
occasion, a somber occasion to remember the 20 million or so who lost their lives for the Soviet Union during World War II. And of course, as you say,
the U.S. and the Soviet did cooperate during that war, especially with the so-called land lease program whereby U.S. or ally, but especially U.S.
military aircraft, tanks, came in to support the red army as they fought and eventually defeated the Nazis, making a significant contribution to the
Soviet war effort.
But it is also, of course, a chance for President Putin to display both for his domestic audience and for the international audience Russia's military
hardware, its military might on the world stage. To see intercontinental ballistic missiles going on the streets of Moscow is quite an extraordinary
sight.
And it's really to -- to give the impression that Russia is -- is back and unbeatable. And in that sort of spirit of -- of the broker of great, great
power politics, President Putin said he wanted the international community to cooperate in the fight against terrorism.
Let's have a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT, RUSSIA (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Our forces are capable of repelling any kind of an attack. But to efficiently combat
terrorism, Nazism and extremism, what we need is the consolidation of the international community.
We are strengthening that. Russia will always be on the side of those who fight against these scourges. Dear friends, as the second World War
recedes into history, so we are obliged to make sure that stability throughout the world is observed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Diana, it is an impressive display of -- sorry, Diana. Carry on.
MAGNAY: You go. I was just going to say in the spirit of that international cooperation, we have the U.S. secretary of state and Sergey
Lavrov, the --the Russian prime minister, meeting tomorrow in Washington.
[11:35:06]
Becky?
ANDERSON: It is, as you rightly pointed out, an impressive display of military might. But for those not sitting, viewing this from the bleachers
in the cold in Moscow today, how does that display resonate with the average Russian these days?
MAGNAY: Well, it is pumped out across every one of the many Russian states and to a certain extent, lapped (ph) up. I mean, let's not forgot how
popular this president is and how, especially when there is a sense that Russia is vilified by the West, the Russian people feel supported by a
strong leader.
And by this sense, that effectively, they've been backed into a corner and their shackles are up. So I think that, you know, there is certainly a
sense whereby people do feel pride in this display of -- of military might.
I mean, you'll also find certain groups who -- who are less comfortable with it. But I think the majority view is that this is a great day.
And they are proud of -- of their military. Becky?
ANDERSON: We know that the secretary of state, U.S. secretary of state is meeting Sergey Lavrov, as you rightly pointed out. I know also, as we
discussed last night, this is a public holiday in Russia today.
We discussed at this time last night just how troubled, if at all, Moscow, kremlin, President Putin will be by the testimony that was being given by
Sally Yates that we've been reporting again on tonight with regard whether Michael Flynn was compromised by the Russians during the election
campaign of Donald Trump. Has there been any further reaction to that testimony?
MAGNAY: There hasn't. And it is unlikely that the Russians will say anything different to what they have said because what came out of that
testimony, the possibility that Michael Flynn could have been compromised, could have been blackmailed because he left himself open to it, because he
said one thing to the Russians and then lied about it publicly. That's not to say that the Russians willfully went out there to try and compromise
Mike Flynn.
And I think that, you know, still, from the Kremlin's position, there's no evidence of collusion. There's no evidence that to date, that the Russians
are doing what the CIA and other intelligence agencies suggest that they are.
ANDERSON: Diana Magnay is in Moscow for you. Diana (ph), it was a pleasure. Thank you.
Well, Moscow, of course, has been on the lips of many around the world and often not in a good way. Over the last few months, Emmanuel Macron's
campaign accused Russia trying to influence the French election.
And after his stunning victory on Sunday, Vladimir Putin was one of the first to congratulate him. Melissa Bell takes a look at Macron's
incredible journey from relative obscurity to leader of France.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(APPLAUSE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: His march to power was as fast as it was determined.
(APPLAUSE)
Only six months after announcing his intention of standing for the presidency without an establishment party, Emmanuel Macron beat the odds
and the skeptics to win.
(APPLAUSE)
EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT-ELECT, FRANCE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I will serve you with love. Long live the republic. Long live France.
(APPLAUSE)
BELL: So what drives Emmanuel Macron? He was born 39 years ago in Northern France to two doctors but raised by his grandmother, a woman
brought up by an illiterate grandmother and who passed on to her grandson her love of books.
Macron excelled in school, first in Amiens (ph) where he met a teacher who would go on to be his wife, then in Paris. A schoolmate there, Jean-
Baptiste de Froment (ph), says he was surprised to see Macron go into politics.
JEAN-BAPTISTE DE FROMENT, SCHOOLMATE OF EMMANUEL MACRON: He was clearly ambitious. But I thought it was a literary ambition, you know.
He wanted to become a writer. He -- he -- he was attracted to fame, for sure. But I'm not sure he was from the beginning attracted to, you know,
politics.
BELL: But Emmanuel Macron did go into politics. The former banker turned political adviser was appointed economy minister in 2014 by Francois
Hollande.
It was when he was a minister that Paris Match (ph) took an interest, not so much in his political ambition, as in his marriage to his former
teacher, a woman 24 years his senior. In just a year, the couple has been seen on the cover of the magazine four times.
CAROLINA PIGOZZI, JOURNALIST, PARIS MATCH: Their incredible energy they have together, you know, you can't separate him from her.
[11:40:00]
She has been her (ph) teacher. And you know, they always do teach another. And I think maybe because a Paris Match childlike romance and it's a good
one.
BELL: Since launching his bid for the presidency, Macron's independent candidacy has raised eyebrows, but so, too, has his attitude to his
opponents.
MACRON (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): People said politics would continue with its rules because we're so used to them. No, do not boo. We cannot unite
around booing.
(APPLAUSE)
BELL: Now buoyed by the victory cheers of his supporters, Emmanuel Macron still faces a tougher challenge ahead, healing a divided country and taking
his message of love to the wider world.
(APPLAUSE)
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, unity to the wider world, sure, but perhaps not so much to Britain. Already, Macron is promising to be tough on Brexit and so it
seems is Banksy.
This is the British street artist's take on it, painting this mural showing one star from the E.U.'s flag being chipped away. He put it up in the port
city of Dover, where countless people have gone between Britain and Europe for hundreds of years.
You're watching the show, which is live out of Abu Dhabi. This is "Connect the World." I'm Becky Anderson.
Coming up, the new face of the health care debate in the U.S. returns to late night television and Jimmy Kimmel has a lot more to say. First up,
though, from abandoned landmark to prime real estate -- why this aging London power plant is about to soar in popularity.
[11:41:51]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:48:58]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIMMEL: We saw a lot of families there. And no parent should ever have to decide if they're going to afford to save their child's life.
It -- it just shouldn't happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: A heart-wrenching plea heard around the world from late night T.V. host, Jimmy Kimmel. A week ago, he revealed his newborn son had
survived heart surgery.
And he called for affordable health care access in the U.S. for every child with a preexisting condition. Well, he returned to television on Monday.
Dylan Byers joins me now from Los Angeles.
And Dylan, what was his follow-up message?
DYLAN BYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he made a very powerful plea a week ago. He came back this week. And what he did is he did not apologize to
any of his critics.
In fact, he stood by his remarks. He, you know, in the spirit of being a late night comedian, he returned to comedy, even at one point, issuing a
sort of tongue-in-cheek apology to his critics.
[11:50:02]
Let's play that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIMMEL: And -- and I would like to apologize for saying that children in America should have health care. It was insensitive.
(LAUGHTER)
It was offensive. And I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BYERS: So obviously, Jimmy Kimmel, very much standing by the argument that he made, the plea he made for health care, for newborn children, and really
going after some of his critics, most pointedly going after former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who had made the argument that whenever a child
suffers from a health nightmare like this, that they always get care.
And the point Jimmy Kimmel made rightly so is that yes, they get care on their first visit. But as anyone who's gone through this experience knows,
it requires subsequent visits.
It requires further treatment. And that is where the issue about the affordability of health care comes into play.
ANDERSON: Yes, and I can tell you, I'm sure our viewers around the world would agree, this is not a story that just resonated in the United States
but around the world. Listen Dylan, what's going on at Fox at the moment?
And how could what is going on there affect what is an incredibly important deal for the man who owns Fox, Mr. Murdoch? He's got this big deal in the
U.K. What's going on?
BYERS: That's absolutely right. The Murdochs are pursuing Sky Broadcasting. This is a feather (ph) that they would like to have in their
cap.
They see it as a major acquisition target for them to take full ownership of a company that they currently only -- only own 39 percent of. What's
standing between them and that goal right now is, of course, all of the controversy and the sexual harassment allegations that have dogged Fox
News, their U.S. holding for over a year now, of course, going back to former CEO Roger Ailes, then former host Bill O'Reilly, even top executives
and the staff who may have known what was going on and taken steps to sort of hide it or make it go away.
What's happening now, the Murdochs are being boxed in from both sides. They're being -- both sides of the Atlantic, I should say -- they're being
boxed in by British regulators who are looking at whether or not they are fit and proper to take full ownership of Sky, whether or not the fact that
such sexual harassment and even racial discrimination could take place at one of their properties makes them fit and proper to hold something like
Sky.
Meanwhile, there's also a federal investigation going on here in the United States into how they handled some of those sexual harassment settlements
and whether they were fully forthcoming with their shareholders about how that money was paid, where that money came from and where it went.
So a lot of external pressure on the Murdochs right now. This -- they went through the exact same thing back in 2011.
They were trying to get Sky. And the phone hacking scandal in the U.K. got in the way. So in many ways, they're reliving the same nightmare.
ANDERSON: And the fact that the Murdoch media empire has such influence around the world makes that an important story for all of us. Thank you.
BYERS: Indeed. Thank you.
ANDERSON: All right. Your parting shots tonight, we are turning back to Afghanistan. American troops have been fighting there for almost 16 years.
Well, now, the U.S. considering sending in more forces. It's a country that one photographer has witnessed first-hand.
He's being trapped between hope and fear.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA BRONSTEIN, PHOTOJOURNALIST: We're looking at 15 years of work, looking at the Afghan people and how they lived against a backdrop of a
violent war and a brutal Taliban insurgency, really focused on stories that give voice to people who have none. I mean, some of the happier moments
for me is celebrating Afghans when they're at weddings, during Nowruz, the Afghan new year, just to be able to see Afghans enjoying life as if there
was no war.
As a female photojournalist, there were always difficulties working in a conservative Islamic country. You have to abide by their rules in terms of
respecting the religion.
When I'm photographing women inside their home, I have to get permission from whoever the man in charge was. Access remained always the biggest
challenge.
This is Paula Bronstein, and these are my parting shots.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: What remarkable pictures between hope and fear in Afghanistan, a country that is, of course, right next door to Iran.
[11:55:05]
And it's from there tonight that we leave you on a lighter note. Meet Ruther Parishtash (ph), the student donned the hallowed Bartha kid (ph),
strutted around Tehran posing for pictures.
And he looks exactly like the football legend from that club, Lionel Messi. So many people were clamoring to get near him that the police had to step
in and whisk him away for his own safety.
And you know where you should whisk yourself off to right now. No? Not somewhere like this, but right -- right over on to here, to
facebook.com/cnnconnect.
Of course, there you will find all the very best from our show this evening and every other show we do anytime, day or night. That is where you will
find us.
For now, as far as the T.V. show is concerned, that's it. "Connect the World" back at the same time, same place tomorrow. Thank you for joining
us from the team here and those who work with us around the world.
And that's it, all aboard, though, the "Quest Express" up next.
END
