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Donald Trump Jr Releases Series of Emails; Helping to Explain the Qatar Crisis; May Vows To Push Ahead; Brexit Deal; Mosul Set to Rebuild; Avalanche of Hate. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired July 11, 2017 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:00:13] BECKY ANDERSON, CONNECT THE WORLD HOST: Tonight, a very public tour and a very secret set of files. CNN's reporting right in the mix,
helping explain this Qatar crisis.
And you've got to wonder why these erstwhile gulf allies are choosing now to double down.
Plus, the pop star, Ms. Universe, Russia, and Donald Trump in a circle together, we'll unpack that report just ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: After the mosques, the propaganda, now we finally see what the Iraqi soldiers say is
the true human and defeated face of ISIS.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: With ISIS all but crushed in the city, Mosul is set for another battle, rebuilding itself. We get you on the ground right there.
A very warm welcome. It is just after 7 o'clock in Abu Dhabi. This is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson.
Executive mechanisms, supplementary grievance, violations of charters there is an awful lot of syllables being thrown around here in the gulf to signal
one very simple fact. Neither side on the Qatar crisis is backing down. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in the gulf trying to move things
forward. He says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REX TILLERSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We're hopeful we can make some progress to begin to bring this to a point of resolution. I think Qatar has
been quite clear in its positions and I think those have been very reasonable. We want to talk now how do we take things forward. And that's
my purpose in coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Right now, Doha and the four Arab states lined up against it are waging a war of words including around CNN's exclusive reporting on
agreements Qatar and its neighbors signed in 2013 and 2014. The details were secret until now. Both sides pointing to the document, saying, see,
this proves you are in the wrong. CNN's U.S. chief security correspondent Jim Sciutto obtained those documents. He is joining me now from Washington
and correspondent Jomana Karadsheh is with us from Amman. She has recently returned from a deployment in Qatar.
Jim, these documents were secret before you obtained them. Now, both sides have been publicly reacting and commenting on CNN's reporting. Why are
these documents so key to understanding the roots of this crisis? And what does the timing of their release mean?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN U.S. CHIEF SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, it gives you such a remarkable view inside these extremely important high level relationships
going back to 2013. After all, a handwritten agreement signed by the royals of these countries, of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait and then in 2014
adding Bahrain, UAE, and Abu Dhabi. At the most senior levels, you see that for a number of years now, there have been deep, deep disagreements about
who is responsible for what. And in fact, not too thinly veiled accusations, many of them directed at Qatar for continuing to support
opposition groups, deviant groups as they're described in here, including it appears terrorist groups, opposition groups within the countries in the
gulf region, other groups outside the region in Egypt, Yemen, and elsewhere.
It shows you that this has been an issue for some time. And great effort was made at the highest levels in private, in secret, to try to make
progress on these issues. And yet now three and four years later, they are coming out in public, as we've seen with the blockade and now with the
release of these agreements, and in effect giving fuel to both sides, right. As you say, Becky, both sides pointing to the other to say you did
not fulfill your agreements, your commitments here and neither did you.
And I think, listen, let's be honest. These agreements coming to the fore in public light because some sides in this division want to make a point,
right, about where they think the mistakes were made and who is responsible. Really remarkable to see these laid out in such stark form and
so public from what were really the most private senior meetings, senior level meetings, that really could be possible there.
[11:05:01] ANDERSON: And Jim, Washington's top diplomat, Rex Tillerson says he is in region to help deescalate this crisis, but his comments about
Qatar's position being reasonable as somewhat of a surprise, certainly to I would expect the other side of this. And in stark contrast, it seems at
least, two messaging from the White House. Your thoughts?
SCIUTTO: Yeah. It's remarkable. Tillerson has two mountains to climb here in effect. I mean, he has got the mountain of trying to bring these divided
parties closer to together, at least finding a path to bring them closer together, really just to avoid escalation. But he has this other mountain
in that his commander-in-chief some weeks ago basically via Twitter, as is his way, put himself on one side of this division. President Trump tweeting
accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism, et cetera, after his visit to Saudi Arabia. Now, you have the Secretary of State coming in and saying listen,
the U.S. is going to be a mediator here. He's not saying explicitly ignore what the president said, but to sit down there next to the Mayor Qatar and
call their positions reasonable, you can't have a more diametrically opposed position to what your commander-in-chief said just a number of
weeks ago. And this is you know, Becky, and we have talked about this on a number of things, there's a frequent dynamic here where the president will
go one way and his senior staff will go another. The question is where is the real power center in the policy and that must be very difficult for the
gulf nations to deal with, because they will say, I imagine, well, the president was just here and he said X and now you or here and you're saying
Y. You know, how do we circle that square, as it were?
ANDERSON: Jomana, you were in Doha recently for an extended period reporting on this crisis. Rex Tillerson told Qatar that said he's around
these parts as everyone's friend. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TILLERSON: Yes, I'm here as a friend to the region. I'm here with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: I'm here as a friend to the region, he said. He may be the only friendly face around them at this point. There is really no love lost here
in region at present. What has changed and what was this once close GCC club?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's very interesting, Becky, to see, you know, the changes. If you look at these documents that
Jim has been reporting on, it's interesting to see what Qatar seemed to agree to in 2013, 2014. Perhaps an indication of these issues reemerging
every time we see some sort of change in power or change in succession lines in this region. Back in 2013, 2014, when these agreements were
signed, this is when you saw that transition of power taking place in Qatar when Sheikh Hamad, the father of the current emir, handed over power to his
son. And Sheikh Hamad was seen as the man, he was credited for transforming Qatar, he was seen as -- you know, Qatar under his rule emerged as a very
influential regional and international player. And that time, when Qatar really emerged as a source of irritation for its bigger and stronger
neighbors like Saudi Arabia and the UAE. And it was also that time when those agreements were signed, Becky, as you know, it was King Abdullah of
Saudi Arabia, the last agreement signed just weeks before his death.
So, now, we're seeing these issues reemerge. As Jim pointed out, this is not something new. This has been going on for some time. And this is at a
time we're seeing this change in Saudi Arabia right now with a new crown prince coming into power. Some see him as having a more confrontational
foreign policy. So you do have people in the region today for example some Qataris who are wondering if these countries had this issues with Qatar, if
they believe that Qatar was not complying with what it agreed to back in 2013, 2014. Why is this only coming out three years later, why is it coming
out as they're seeing this change in Saudi Arabia and a new U.S. administration, Becky?
ANDERSON: Jomana Karadsheh today reporting to you out of Amman, and Jim out of Washington. Thank you so much, both of you.
From a war of words here to a real war in the Middle East after three years, at last, Mosul is finally free the grip of ISIS. Iraqis have been
celebrating after the prime there declared victory on Monday, the months of fighting taking an obvious toll. Parts of the once thriving city now just
look like a wasteland. Rubble and debris where once buildings stood. Nick Paton Walsh was in Mosul as the final fight to free the city played out.
[11:10:10] WALSH: It's like something supernatural or other worldly did it. This destruction, absolutely breathtaking and really a sign of the dust and
bones that ISIS have left in their wake. Old city, Mosul, the damage new, the city gone. And Mosul, almost free of ISIS.
Elsewhere, Iraqis are celebrating victory, dancing in the streets. Yet, here, the streets are still being ground to rubble. In the last 100 yards
of ISIS, the group that once held swaths of Iraq and Syria, down here to the dust, we're told.
There it is. The river that runs through the heart of Mosul that marks the end of ISIS territory in Iraq, really. But between these Iraqi special
forces and the body of water marks victory are still just dozens of ISIS fighters still holding out.
American air strikes hammered them. That's the intensity and proximity of the fighting here that air strikes are called in right next to Iraqi
forces. They even feel the rubble landing in their faces. Perhaps because this really is the end, some of them appear to give themselves up. A sniper
still there. They're welcomed. Carry him, carry him, the commander shouts. After the mosques, now we finally see what the Iraqi soldiers say is the
true human and defeated face of ISIS. This man appears like he has a disability and is asked how he got here.
ISIS forced me here, he insists. They fought the world's war on ISIS here in Mosul and now casually pass dead fighters.
How does it feel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels dark. I try to run the operations here after this all nine months.
WALSH: Brigadier General al-Asadi planted the Iraqi flag that says on the river bank, they fall. But this isn't a battle of flags anymore. But for
ISIS, the smaller cells of survival. So the fight went on even as the official declaration from Iraq's prime minister announced victory. So it
will be for Iraq in the years ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh now east of Mosul, how does the city rebuild after all that devastation, Nick?
WALSH: It is a devastating task for already a devastated city, Becky. We are talking really about a demolition job that initially needs to occur.
I'm not a construction engineer, but it's pretty clear it looks like the surface of the moon. This is rubble that is littered the booby traps, even
the corps of ISIS fighters and sadly, we have many civilians killed during the intensity of the fighting being held there as human shields by ISIS. So
a very staunch task there in the old city where we understand still that there are clashes continuing with small pockets of ISIS fighters, even now
still holding out.
That's the old city. It's small but it's symbolic for the city itself. The broader issue is how one gets infrastructure and reconstruction going. It's
remarkable actually, two miles away from the fighting, you can see people on the streets selling their wares again, grilled chicken, paint shops,
traffic jams, signs of life in every street, and obviously a tale of its own suffering. The major task for Baghdad, Becky, now is to get money and
assistance in quickly and security, too. This is still an active conflict area, still very much threatened by ISIS' low level insurgence. We will
continue for months ahead. And of course, remember as well, there are other towns in the country, in which they do still have a presence involving
military operation. So it is a huge task ahead.
ANDERSON: Yeah. And this is going to take some time. Amnesty International said Iraqi and coalition forces didn't do enough to protect civilians who
were caught up in the cross fire. Is that a fair assessment, you think?
WALSH: It's difficult to know in a war like this, but it is not fair, to some degree. Amnesty's job obviously is to appeal for human rights and say
more should have been done. The coalition said they did all they could. And in fairness, frankly, when ISIS are bent or desperate to take as many
civilian lives with them as they could in worship. Death is part of a cult- like behavior that's the center of their warped creeds, then it's difficult to imagine how you could save many lives. We have seen civilians come out
of the rubble. We have seen the accuracy of the air strikes trying to target ISIS fighters. It's an awfully difficult, messy business, warfare,
particularly in an urban environment when civilians are caught in between.
Yet, in theory, I'm sure everybody could have done more by simply not advancing militarily. But as on coalition spokesperson points out, when it
came to the fight for the old city, those civilians trapped as human shields faced starvation. There was a clock ticking on that. They were
running out of food and water. So you have to bear that in mind. There is a pace that needs to be delivered in terms of military operation, to save
lives from being lost. So many circumstances here, easy to point the finger, easy to blame, no consolation from a lack of that from those
families of those whose lives were lost as innocent civilians in this, too. But frankly, an impossible task taking ISIS on in an urban area like that.
I think pretty much everybody does accept that, Becky.
ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh out of Mosul now. It is 11:16 in the evening, 7:16 here was declared a victory in Mosul. What's next for coalition
forces? The answer is Raqqa in Syria. It is the self-declared ISIS capital. CNN journalists were the first inside the walls of Raqqa's old city. Now,
we take you to the front lines of the battle against the terror group there. Tune in, 11 pm Abu Dhabi time, 8 pm in London right here on CNN.
Still to come, a new report says Donald Trump, Jr., left out a critical detail in his statements about a meeting with a Russian attorney last year.
We're going to see what the New York Times is saying about a potentially explosive e-mail just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: We have seen bombshell after bombshell in this investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, haven't we? But one single e-mail
could be one of the biggest revelations yet. And it is now available for the public to see.
Donald Trump, Jr., has just released an e-mail chain on Twitter, first reported by the New York Times. It details new information about Trump,
Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer during the presidential campaign last year.
Well, the Times says Trump, Jr. was told the lawyer had information that was part of a Russian government effort to help his father's campaign. As
you might guess, congressional investigators not only want to question Trump, Jr. But also get their hands on that e-mail.
Well a top house Democrat says it could severely damage the Trump team's credibility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), RANKING MEMBER, U.S. HOUSE INTELIGENCE COMMITTEE: This also, though, if it's true, puts the lie to the whole idea we have no
idea whether the Russians are trying to help us. We have no idea whether this came from the Russians. If that email is accurate -- if the
description is accurate, it means that among the very first people, if not the first people of the public who would learn that the Russians were
trying to help elect Donald Trump were the Trump Family itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Trump, Jr. downplaying the meeting and his attorney calls it, "much ado about nothing". CNN's Jason Carroll has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Another potential bombshell report from the "New York Times," alleging that Donald Trump, Jr. received
an email informing him that the Russian Government was trying to help his father's campaign. Before his June 2016 meeting with the president's son
in-law, Jared Kushner; Former Campaign Chairman, Paul Manafort; and a Russian lawyer thought to have compromising information about Hillary
Clinton.
Three unnamed sources tell "The Times" that the email sent by Rob Goldstone, a music publicist who coordinated the meeting indicated that the
Russian Government was the source of the potentially damaging information. Six weeks later Trump, Jr. slammed the Clinton Campaign for suggesting that
the Russians were involved in an effort to help then the Candidate Trump.
DONALD TRUMP, JR. U.S. PRESIDENT SON: It just goes to show you their exact moral compass. I mean, they'll say anything to be able to win this. I mean,
this is time and time again lie after lie. It's disgusting. It's so phony.
CARROLL: Trump, Jr.'s newly hired lawyer insisting in a statement that his client did nothing wrong. Noting, "Don Jr.'s takeaway from this
communication was that someone had information potentially helpful to the campaign and was coming from someone he knew. Don, Jr. had no knowledge as
to what specific information, if any, would be discussed", the White House on the defensive.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELLOR TO THE PRESIDENT: Don Jr. has very explicitly stated he didn't even know the name of the person with whom he was meeting.
There was no information given. There was no action taken. There was no follow-up.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE SECRETARY: The president's campaign did not collude in any way.
CARROLL: Congressional investigators probing potential collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia already expressing interest in speaking with
Trump, Jr. who tweeted Monday that he would be happy to pass on what I know.
SEN. MARK WARNER 9D), VIRGINIA: This is the first time that the public has seen clear evidence of senior level members of the Trump Campaign meeting
with Russians to try to obtain information that might hurt the campaign of Hillary Clinton.
CARROLL: President Trump's legal team choosing to reiterate an earlier statement when asked about the new report noting, "The president was not
aware of and did not attend the meeting".
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: We're live on the story in the United States and in Russia for you tonight as you would expect, CNN's Political Director David Chalian
joining us from New York; CNNs Senior International Correspondent, Ivan Watson live in Moscow. Let's start with you David, these emails that's just
released by Don Jr., what have we learned?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, you know, I think most legal and political analysts would say it is wise for Don Jr. to start trying to
get ahead of this and release this information. Obviously, the "New York Times" reported about one email and Don Jr. clearly wanted to get out this
information.
This is what we've learned. We've learned that in an email from his acquaintance, this Goldstone character, who was the intermediary, setting
up the meeting with the Russian lawyer, that it was clear in the email that Don Jr. was on that this was part of the Russian Government's effort to
help his father's campaign.
That was clear from Goldstone before the meeting took place. And Don Jr. still moved up, you know, went ahead with having this meeting to get this
negative information on Hillary Clinton. What is also unclear, but interesting to note, in one of the emails that Don Jr. released just
moments ago, is a forwarding email to Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort, who were joining in on the meeting, to let them know that the time of the
meeting had changed.
It would be at Don Jr.'s Office the next day at 4:00 p.m. But, what is unclear is did Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner see the entire chain and
therefore they also had knowledge that this was all about the Russian Government's effort to help Donald Trump's Campaign. That's a question
we'll ask.
ANDERSON: Right. Yes, so bottom line, I guess, at this point, is there any indication in these emails that have been released on Twitter by Don Jr.
that the Trump Campaign was willing to accept Russia's help?
[11:25:00] CHALIAN: Well, it is certainly clear that Don Jr. was willing to accept a meeting where he believed he was going to get negative
information about Hillary Clinton for the purposes of helping his father's campaign and he was doing that with the understanding that this was part of
the Russian Government's effort, those are the facts, that's what we know.
Whether we know also that Don Jr. has said, his account is, that when he heard the material being proffered by this Russian lawyer in the meeting,
he called it nonsense and garbage and useless and they moved on to talk about other thing, so -- again, that's what the end result was.
But what the facts of these emails show is that Don Jr. said yes, sign me up for that meeting with that lawyer who's coming here with negative
Clinton information as part of the government of Russia's efforts to help my dad's campaign.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. All right, stand by David. Ivan, we have just heard from the Russian attorney, the center of this controversy -- this
controversial meeting, she spoke to NBC. Let's just have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have the impression, it appears, that they were going to be told some information that you had about the DNC, how did they
get that impression?
NATALIA VESELNITSKAYA, RUSSIAN ATTORNEY: It's quite possible that maybe they were looking for such information. They wanted it so badly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this morning she denies claims she is connected to a Russian Government effort to aid Donald Trump's presidency.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you ever worked for the Russian Government? Do you have connections to the Russian Government?
VESELNITSKAYA: Niet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Niet, you heard it, no. She's denying any link to the Kremlin. Ivan, what more do we know about her?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Natalia Veselnitskaya, she is a Russian Lawyer. She was activity lobbying against
something called the Magnitsky Act, it's American Legislation passed in 2002 and it basically punished Russian entities and individuals who were
implicated in human rights abuses and in corruption.
And for a while, she represented a holding company called Prevezon that had some of its assets seized under the Magnitsky Act and it ultimately settled
about two months ago with more than $5 million pay-out in the State of New York.
She had also been traveling around the world promoting a documentary film that set to undermine the Magnitsky Act and she started a nongovernmental
organization in the U.S. that talked about the Magnitsky Act and related Russian Government move to ban U.S. adoption of Russian children in
response for the Magnitsky Act.
So, that's a little bit of background about this woman, who now, according to these email chains, was being promoted as a Russian Government Lawyer,
according to Rob Goldstone, with information from the Russian Government to help elect President Trump.
Again, this is in the words of Rob Goldstone, who we know to be a British public relations executive in his own company, Oui2 Entertainment, who was
representing a Russian popstar.
ANDERSON: David, the American President, as we are well-aware, is no stranger to Twitter, averaging about 10 tweets a day since he opened his
account. Yet, search as we might, there is not a single tweet defending his son right now. Do you think that's curious?
CHALIAN: I do. And I think it's quite noteworthy. You know, his advisors, both his legal counsel and his political advisors in the White House, have
tried time and again to say surrounding all of this Russian investigation matter, you know what, lay off Twitter on this. We don't know where every
legal jeopardy maybe exposed here and so lay off Twitter on this is the best advice. Don't make public statements.
He has not heeded that advice until now. It seems he is heeding the advice over the last three days when it comes to his son to lay off Twitter, which
is just really noteworthy because even in some of the most substantial charges that are out there against Donald Trump, potential obstruction of
justice and the way he handled the Comey firing, and what have you, he still took to Twitter to defend himself, push back, called the
investigations completely fabricated and fake news and all of that.
And now, when his son may have some potential legal jeopardy here -- I'm not suggesting there was any wrongdoing proven so far, but the potential
exists, he has remained completely silent. We'll see how long that lasts, if it does last.
[11:30:00] ANDERSON: David Chalian is in New York, for your viewers, Ivan in Moscow. Thank you, guys. We're going to return to British politics in
just a moment.
British Prime Minister Theresa May says the Brexit vote was a vote for change and she says she is sticking to the agenda. The details, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Right, it's just after half past 7:00 here with our programming hub in the Middle East in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. British Prime
Minister, Theresa May says the Brexit vote gave her a mandate to change the country, despite her party's humiliating showing in the June 8th General
Election.
Well, the prime minister gave her first major policy speech since the vote a short time ago and she says now is not the time for her government to
play it safe. The British Foreign Secretary spoke to the House of Commons on the heels of her speech. Boris Johnson lashed out at the EU over Brexit
demands. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: The sums that I have seen that they propose to demand for this country seem to me to be extortionist and I
think to go whistle is an entirely appropriate expression.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Phil Black joining me now "live" from Downing Street. Some strong words there from Boris Johnson and you might, if you will expound on
those EU demands that he's talking about, and just how does Theresa May see the Brexit negotiations going now?
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, what Boris Johnson, first of all, Becky what he's talking about there is the divorce settlement. It's the first key
pillar of the EU negotiations. Britain and EU have to agree on just how much money Britain owes for its existing commitments under its membership
to the European Union.
There's a lot of wild guesses out there, but they all seem to be 10s of billions, that's just a question of how many 10s of billions. You heard
Boris Johnson there say that what they're asking is extortion. While, it is the early stages of the negotiations, so you would expect the positions of
both sides to be at the extreme and then hopefully overtime those will close.
What Theresa May was talking about today is that Brexit is more than just pulling Britain out of the EU. She sees this as an opportunity to change
the country profoundly, to ask the question what sort of country does Britain wants to be. Now, this is interesting because what she's trying to
do clearly is re-establish her authority after the embarrassment of the election result where she didn't have to go well.
She lost that majority in parliament, has suffered such a loss of influence with the British people, within her own party as well. She's now trying to
re-establish her authority by reclaiming the language she first used a year ago when she stood here in Downing Street and spoke to the British people
for the first time when she talked about injustice and fairness and building a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.
These ideas, when she first expressed them initially made her quite a popular leader. Over time, well, she's suffered that loss of a clear
mandate clearly through the election result. She's rebuilt the party into a minority government. And, so if you take a listen now, this is what she
said when she talked about the defining characteristics of the government that she wants to lead.
[11:35:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: A clear understanding that the EU referendum result was not just a vote to leave European Union but a deeper
and more profound call for change across our country, a belief that at the heart of that change, must lie a commitment to greater fairness in our
country as we tackle the injustices and vested interests that threaten to hold us back and make Britain a country that works for everyone, not just a
privileged few.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: So, she's trying to sound like a leader. She is talking about making big, difficult, long-term decisions, bold actions. She's talking
about a vision once again. These are all things that a diminished leader generally finds very difficult to achieve.
Now, of course, just saying them doesn't mean that it will happen but it is a statement of her intention to move on and to try and guide the country in
a way that many people thought she simply wasn't capable of doing following that election result, Becky.
ANDERSON: Phil Black outside the prime minister's residence there at Number 10 Downing Street following in the end the Brexit debate became
quite nasty with lots of really hurtful and harmful words being frame on them. And that is just a small part of what is this ecosystem hatred that
thrives on the internet.
I want to bring you a striking example of that now. The founder of a Neo Nazi website is facing a lawsuit for encouraging an army -- an army of
internet trolls against a Jewish woman. Sara Sidner has our report and that, I'm going to warn you, some of the language in this report is
explicit and it is disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They call themselves trolls. What do you call them?
TANYA GERSH, JEWISH WOMAN: Terrorists.
SIDNER: In the digital era it only takes a few key strokes for hate to suddenly consume your life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You worthless piece of (beep).
SIDNER: This is what is often waiting for Tanya Gersch everyday when she goes online or picks up the phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope you die, you worthless {beep}. Stupid, ugly (beep) was Tanya Gersh.
GERSH: I had a lot of phone calls with gunshots. That sound kind of still makes me sick.
SIDNER: The Gersch's including their 12-year-old son had received thousands of messages like this for months.
GERSH: You're a (beep) of a mother, should watch herself. Why don't you crawl into this oven little boy. There's a free Xbox inside. They
photoshopped and list imagery of me with Nazi symbols on my forehead or on my arm and terrible inventory of me and my son on the Gates to Auschwitz
Concentration Camp.
SIDNER: Do you think it scared them?
GERSH: Yes.
SIDNER: It's the last thing you'd expect in the quaint resort town of White Fish, Montana.
GERSH: I just pray that we'll be safe.
SIDNER: Gersch says it all started when she came into contact with fellow resident, Sherry Spencer, who happens to be the mother of White
Nationalist, Richard Spencer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory.
SIDNER: He shot to fame celebrating President Trump's win with Nazi symbolism. His mom, Sherry Spencer, owns a commercial building in town.
Gersch, a realtor, says she was trying to help Spencer sell the building to calm tensions within the town over her son's beliefs.
But, according to a lawsuit, filed by an anti-hate group, Spencer published a blog post accusing Gersch of threatening her with protest until she
complied and sold her building. We called Spencer, who said she didn't want to talk to us.
BILL DIAL, POLICE CHIEF, WHITEFISH, MONTANA: People say, "Who do you believe? I said, you know, it's -- I don't know.
SIDNER: But the police chief says no complaint was filed by Spencer and no charges were brought by any other agency. But after the blog post, the
lawsuit says, Andrew England, the founder of one of the most popular Neo Nazi website, The Daily Stormer, picked up the torch and unleashed what he
called his troll army on the Gersch's, publishing their contact information on his site.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Beep), Jew.
SIDNER: The southern poverty law center is suing Andrew England on Gersch's behalf accusing him of intentionally inflicting emotional
distress, invasion of privacy and intimidation.
[11:40:00]
JOHN MORRISON, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: The purpose is to cause them fear and emotional harm. And that's illegal. It's not protected by the
First Amendment.
SIDNER: We reached out to Andrew England who told us he now lives in, of all places, Lagos, Nigeria where he says his rights to say what he wants
aren't limited. He did not return comment about the Gersh's case. But, we managed to catch up with one of the writers on "The Daily Stormer" website
at a rally in Houston.
ROBERT RAY AZZMADOR, DAILY STORMER WRITE: Andrew England specifically called on the readers of "Daily Stormer" to contact Ms. Gersch and tell
them what they think about it. And that's exactly what they did. There's no evidence that anyone from -- who was influenced by "Daily Stormer" made any
death threats or anything. I've watched...
SIDNER: Well, they made some threats.
AZZMADOR: Like what? We're going to throw you in a gas chamber? That's a real credible threat.
SIDNER: The anti-defamation league says England has launched his army of hate many times before. England initially responded to the Gersch lawsuit
with this image.
GERSH: He's on a horse with a big spear into me.
SIDNER: Asking for donations to fight the lawsuit. He has raised more than $150,000 so far. Gersch is also receiving support in the form of batches of
letters and emails.
GERSH: I don't think I could have survived the whole thing without this.
SIDNER: While it was the hatred spewed by strangers that has terrified her family, it is also the kindness of strangers that is saving them from utter
despair. Sara Sidner, CNN White Fish, Montana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, "The Daily Stormer", Andrew England told his troll army to stop contacting Gersch after the lawsuit was filed. For the most part, they
have.
Well, updating you on one of our top stories, breaking story this hour, Donald Trump, Jr. has released a statement and an email chain giving new
information about Trump, Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer during last year's presidential campaign.
The "New York Times" first reported on the email it says, "The meeting was part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump and that the
lawyer has information that would incriminate Hillary Clinton and be very useful to Donald Trump". We're going to get more on this for you, taking a
very short break, back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00] ANDERSON: All right, updating you on what is one of our top stories. Donald Trump, Jr. has released a statement and an email chain
giving new information about Trump, Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer during last year's presidential campaign. The "New York Times" first
reported on this email, U.S. Justice Correspondent, Evan Perez joining us now from Washington. What have we learned from these emails?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, one of the first things we've learned is from Donald, Jr.'s tweet is that he said he was
releasing this for the sake of transparency. But, we now know, that it was actually because the "New York Times" had obtained the emails and was about
to publish them.
Now, the emails -- series of emails that occurred last year, communications between this man named Rob Goldstone, who is a publicist that apparently
the Trump Family has known for some time with ties to Russia and he was trying to set-up a meeting with Donald, Jr. and other people inside the
campaign, offering information that he said came from Moscow, which were -- which were derogatory information on Hillary Clinton, that's the purpose of
this meeting.
And according to this email chain, the initial response from Donald, Jr. is to say if it's what you say, I love it. In other words, if it's the dirt on
Hillary Clinton which he said was being offered, he said I love it. Now, he also -- we also learned from these email chains that this publicist is
telling him, Donald, Jr., that this woman that he was trying to set-up a meeting with was actually a government lawyer working for the Government of
Russia.
Again, this is something that really kind of contradicts what the White House has been saying, what Donald, Jr. has been saying, sort of suggesting
that they didn't know who this person was, didn't know of any ties to Russia and certainly that they didn't have any intention to discuss the
campaign, that it was just a meeting about adoptions and sanctions was the issue there in this meeting.
So, again, a lot coming out in this email chain that sort of suggests that the initial story certainly that we heard from the White House's initial
explanations that we got from Donald Trump, Jr. for why this meeting even occurred in the first place have kind of fallen apart as new information
has come forward, Becky?
[11:50:00] ANDERSON: I guess, to your point then, you know, new information has come to light. Is there, though, a smoking gun? Is there an
indication these emails -- in these emails that we've seen, at this point, that the Trump Campaign was willing to accept Russia's help? And how
damaging is all of this, at this point, to the White House, do you think?
PEREZ: Right, exactly and I think that's the key part of this is that, at least, from the email conversations that are being had here, that are now
being made public, it does appear that Donald, Jr. was interested in getting the help of a foreign government, the Russian Government, to help
the campaign because they thought that the Russian Government had information that was derogatory toward -- to Hillary Clinton's Campaign.
Now, that is what this email seems to suggest. Now, Donald, Jr. has simply, in his statement that he tweeted out about an hour ago, says that, you
know, what he thought -- this was about was opposition research -- political opposition research type of thing that happens in political
campaigns in the United States every day and so he didn't really see anything wrong with it.
Obviously, working with a foreign government and in this case a government that was -- that was doing active measures, that was actually interfering
with the U.S. Election campaign is sort of another matter. This is why this is under investigation by the FBI and the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller.
Now, what's interesting about this, Becky is that, this is the first public information we've seen that draws a picture of collusion or coordination
between the Trump Campaign and the Russian Government. We haven't seen this before, this so directly. But, we do know that the...
ANDERSON: Sure.
PEREZ: ...FBI has been looking at this for a year, right? And so, it begs the question of what else does the FBI have?
ANDERSON: Yes. No, very good point. And, we have heard from this Russian attorney, the center of what is this controversial meeting that Donald
Trump, Jr. has just released the emails on by -- through his Twitter. She spoke to NBC earlier on. Our viewers heard this a little earlier this hour,
but I just want those who just may be joining us to hear it again.
PEREZ: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They had the impression, it appears, that they were going to be told some information that you had about the DNC. How did they
get that information?
NATALIA VESELNITSKAYA, RUSSIAN ATTORNEY: It's quite possible that maybe they were looking for such information. They wanted it so badly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And, this morning, she denies claims she is connected to a Russian Government effort to aid Donald Trump's presidency.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you ever worked for the Russian Government? Do you have connections to the Russian Government?
VESELNITSKAYA: Niet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Niet, yes that means, no in Russian, of course, and denying any link to the Kremlin. We've been on with our Moscow Correspondent this hour.
They continue to deny any links with this lawyer. What more do we know about her and how she fits into this kind of bigger circle as it were?
[11:55:00] PEREZ: Well, we don't know really what exact ties she has with the Russian Government, but it's clear from the email chains that Don Jr.
is being told -- Donald Trump, Jr. is being told, by this acquaintance, by publicist that she is associated with the government, that she's a
government lawyer.
It appears that that is not exactly accurate, but she has some kind of tie according to the meeting that was being set-up. It also is interesting
that, you know, in the email chain you see that this publicist is saying that this is all part of information that is part of the Russia and its
government's support for Mr. Trump.
Again, this is information he's being told as this meeting is being set-up and certainly he's being told that it's part of an effort by the Russian
Government to support Donald Trump. Again, this is information obviously investigators are going to want to know more about. Did Donald Trump
believe this was a -- essentially an effort by the Russian Government to aid Mr. Trump in the election? That's going to be the big question for
investigators as they dig deeper into this, Becky.
[12:00:00] ANDERSON: The correspondent in Washington on what is a breaking story this hour. Thank you. Keeping up with that and everything else that's
going on in Washington, of course for you that's how it is here on CONNECT THE WORLD where else for them.
CNN, up next, it is all about the "QUEST EXPRESS". I'm Becky Anderson, that was CONNECT THE WORLD from the team here, working with me in Abu Dhabi and
knows working with this around the world. See you tomorrow.
END
