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Connect the World

Atlanta Airport Power Outage; U.N. Security Council To Weigh Jerusalem Decision; British Prime Minister To Give Update On Brexit; Global Backlash Over Trump's Decision On Jerusalem; President Trump To Unveil new Strategy; South Africa's ANC Looks For New Leader; May To Update Parliament On Brexit. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired December 18, 2017 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:18] ROBYN CURNOW, CONNECT THE WORLD, CNN: In the dark the world's busiest airport is working to get back to normal after a crippling power

outage cause chaos. Next we're live at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since Jerusalem is currently under occupation, we cannot go there and open our embassy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Anger over President Trump's discussion to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital boiled over. Now the outrage is reaching the U.N. This

hour the United Nations takes up a resolution to reject the American President's move. Also Britain's Theresa May will address parliament in 30

minutes. We'll hear directly from the Prime Minister on the status of Brexit negotiations.

Hello and welcome to "Connect the World." I'm Robyn Curnow in Atlanta. We begin at the world's busiest airport just beginning to recover from a

crippling weekend power outage. An electrical fire plunged Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport into darkness for about 11 hours on Sunday. The

resulting chaos ground the flights, stranded thousands of passengers and disrupted air traffic for the entire U.S. Now flights are resuming now

that power is back on, but the backlog will take quite some time to untangle. Martin Savidge joins us from the airport. Hi there Martin, give

us a sense of how people are managing today, basically the backlog. This is the world's busiest airport.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. You've had this electronic melt down happen at about the busiest time of year that this could happen so

you've got really a snowballing effect. Let me show you what it looks like here. OK. This line over here is your premier delta customers. These are

the kind of people that don't like to wait and they have the priority they shouldn't. Airline sought to see that but that is the problem, they All

right dealt with the days. It's not the airlines fault but the fallout is falling squarely on them, not just delta, which is the primary carriers

here, but all the other airlines. There are at least 400 flight that have been canceled today. Yesterday 1,100 plus flights were canceled. You can

imagine the backlog. You had about 50,000 people yesterday that didn't get to where they want to be. Today they run into the traditional daily

traffic of 275,000 people. So you've already got a holiday period where the flights were heavily booked and now you are trying to squeeze a lot

more people out of those flights hence why you've got the problems you see at this airport.

They hope to have the schedules back to normal by late this afternoon. That does not mean that people will be where they want to be. It just

means that the airplanes will start to get there. There's been a big impact on international flight travel, because those flights didn't get to

leave either early this morning or late last night. And as a result of that, the planes are out of position around the world. When you miss that,

you miss not just a day, but several days of travel for people. So Robyn, it's a tough go right now.

CURNOW: It's a mess. Let's be blunt about this, particularly just before Christmas. Do you think some people's actual Christmas plans might be

messed up here? Also the luggage issue. What about people traveling to family? The presents are in the luggage. This certainly could get worse.

Could make some people's Christmas pretty unpleasant.

SAVIDGE: To your point, a couple things. I ran into people. Their plan was to summit Kilimanjaro on Christmas day. Because that flight didn't go

yesterday, they aren't going to catch up to that entire expedition. So the trip of a lifetime essentially was ruined because of a power outage. That

is just one example. On top of that, there are the issues of luggage. Many people who were going to try to go home and maybe rent a car. They

can't get their bags back. No one is sure where their bags exactly are at this point. And on top of that, there could be holiday gifts some things

like that, so it snowballs here. It should also be pointed out that many people were actually very frightened. They were trapped on airplanes for

hours on end and this terminal had to be evacuated at one point. It is not just an inconvenience we're talking about here. We are talking about

people who truly had a very harrowing and difficult day and likely face at least another difficult day.

[10:05:05] CURNOW: You make excellent points there. Thanks so much, Martin Savidge at Atlanta's airport. We'll keep an eye on all of that. I

appreciate it.

Now I want to take you to the United Nations Security Council were closely watch meeting on the status of Jerusalem is just getting under way. These

are pictures from the U.N. Security council. Now the Security Council is weighing a resolution that attempts to nullify Donald Trump recognition if

Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The resolution is expect to have widespread support but the vote would be symbolic as the U.S. is certain to

veto it. Palestinian say, they already have a plan B.

Let us bring in Oren Liebermann who is in Jerusalem, Michelle Kosinski at the state department, Oren to you first, the respective there in Jerusalem?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORESPONDENT: Well, two different perspectives of course from Israelis and Palestinians. The Israelis aren't that worried

about this at all. They put out a couple harsh statements condemning what they've seen of the draft resolution which tries to get the United Nation

and the world to nullify President Trump recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. But it's because the U.S. has that veto power as a

permanent member of the Security Council that they're not worried. They're assured that the U.S. Veto is a virtual lock. At the Security Council

this goes nowhere. As you pointed out, the Palestinians have a plan b. From there with that expected detailed, they will go to the united nations

general assembly where there is no veto by the United States or by anybody else and there it's expected to pass as have other resolutions earlier this

year critical of Israel.

But the Palestinians are expected to use a rarely invoked resolution called the uniting for peace resolution that would essentially make this a special

vote, a harsher condemnation of the United Nations unilateral move to recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. That is the direction where

this could be going. But there, and we don't have a timeline for that happening yet, this is going to be almost a bizarre situation. You have

this resolution critical of the United States or at least trying to nullify the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem that the Israelis aren't worried and in

fact the Palestinians aren't happy with. The resolution doesn't meet the United States or President Trump by name. The Palestinians aren't happy

with the wording. The Israelis aren't worried about the wording and that is where it stands right now, heading into the discussion as it gets going.

The vote expected in a few hours.

CURNOW: Yes we will keep an eye on that. Let's go to the state department. Michelle Kosinski standing by. What is the perspective there?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT: We haven't heard a response yet, but we obviously know what this will turned out to be. The

U.S. will veto this. What's interesting, though, when you look at the expected votes based on conversations I've had with senior foreign

diplomats, they're expecting the support of this to be 14 of 15 members. It's really the U.S. standing alone in vetoing this obviously given the

U.S.'s activity on Jerusalem most recently, even though they're not mentioned by name in this resolution. But here are the U.S.'s closest

allies and others ready to vote against something that rejects the U.S. designation of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and wanting to move its

embassy there, calling on other nations not to do the same, and expressing deep regret for that. I think the question is where does this go from

here? We know the Palestinians have been lobbying for this. They got the Egyptian to present this resolution today. So even though at this stage

it's not going anywhere, it is quite a dramatic rebuke of what the U.S. has decided to do.

CURNOW: It certainly is. Oren, back to you, we saw some clashes a little bit worse than the week before on Friday. Arwa Damon when she was in the

west bank asked the question on Friday where does this all go from now? Where does this all go? In terms of the momentum and the perspective from

the region, where do you think this is all going now?

LEIBERMANN: I expect to see the protests to continue. Largely because Vice President Mike Pence is on his way to the region in the next couple of

days and will be in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Palestinian factions, including the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

have called for days of rage so we expect to see protests. That is on the street level. On the diplomatic or political level, the higher ups or the

leaders of the Palestinian authority will be meeting tonight, to decide what their next move will be. We spoke with one of the PLO central

committee members on Friday and asked for some sort of guidance. That leader didn't want to give any, because they want to discuss this. They

want to play this carefully. After this meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will head to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss his next step

there. So expect with protests, some sort of diplomatic move by the Arab states and majority Muslims states and the region. What that is we haven't

gotten an indication yet.

[10:10:02] CURNOW: OK. Oren and Michelle, thanks to you both.

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to unveil a new national security strategy in just a few hours-time. Of course we know the U.S. President

has always been about America first and the strategy is expected to build on that by pegging U.S. Economic prosperity as its main goal. But the

speech also should be an insight into what the Trump administration sees as a danger to the U.S. Threats like North Korea's weapon program and

terrorism. And also CNN has known that the speech is expected to take on China. Matt Rivers is in Beijing with more on China's inclusion in the

strategy. Hi Matt, what is expected here?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are expecting the Trump administration in this formal document laid out to take China on in an

economic way. They're also going to talk about according to a White House official the Chinese ongoing military expansion in the South China Sea.

This is a document in every administration going back to the second term of Ronald Reagan has produced. It's a formal document that is been worked on

for months according to the White House in this document. They are expecting to take on China by labeling them a strategic competitor. What

that could mean is to look at the economic side of things. If you look at what candidate Trump said before the President took office, he really hit

China hard. Regularly targeting China's economic policies, unfair trade practices as he put it. Over the last couple months after a seeming lull

in the beginning of Trump administration you've seen some signs that the Trump administration could be readying a harder line stance when it comes

to economic policy towards China, eyeing things like potential terrorists down the road. But they also are going to say according to this White

House official that they also know that they need China. It's the biggest bilateral trading relationship in the world and they also need Chinese

cooperation on North Korea. So how far will President Trump go is the big question here. Will he really hit China and how will China respond. Could

that affect their relationship when it comes to things like North Korea?

CURNOW: Particularly because Mr. Trump has seen trying to woo Xi Jinping. Thank you so much.

Still to come on Connect the World, as President Trump prepares to redefine America's national security strategy, Canada's defense minister gives us

his take on what that could mean for his country. Also in the next 20 minutes we are expecting to hear from Britain's Theresa May. She is

updating parliament on where the U.K. stands in Brexit negotiations.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:35] CURNOW: You are watching CNN and this is "Connect the World" with me, Robyn Curnow. Welcome back President Donald Trump's

administration continues to test alliances that have lasted generations. Not least of all its neighbor to the north. Now, two northern American

pals have disagreements on key issues such as trade and climate. They could be hints on their future when Mr. Trump deliver Monday's national

security speech. But the focus of U.S. president speech will be on protecting the homeland, preserving peace through strength, and furthering

America's prosperity. It is a speech that could affect global security, particularly for allies like Canada. That country's Defense Minister

Harjit Sajjan joins me now live from Abu Dhabi. Thanks so much for speaking to us, sir. From the Middle East. What are you trying to

accomplish while you're in the region?

HARJIT SAJJAN, CANADIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY: Well, thank you for having me on the show. Every Christmas I actually head into the region to visit our

troop's and thank them for their tremendous service that they do on behalf of Canada and get to meet allies as well and I have an opportunity visit

the region, to speak with my counter parts and get a better understanding. We announced a building of a road along the Syrian border so the Jordanian

armed forces can respond better to various threats. I am here in Abu Dhabi where we just signed a defense cooperation agreement. It's just kind of a

way of being a responsible partner and providing peace and security in this region.

CURNOW: I outline before we came to some of the focus of this national security speech that the U.S. President about to make. What for you would

you like to hear? What concerns you about of at least the foreign policy direction that your neighbor to the south is taking?

SAJJAN: We look forward to hearing the speech and reading and reviewing it afterwards. One thing I can say, Canada and the U.S. has a very unique

defense relationship. We have one of the only binational commands in the world. We share North American security in our aerospace. We demonstrated

this on 9/11. We have navy ships that interdict drugs in the Caribbean. Drugs that are route to the U.S. We work together on NATO as part of the

enhancement of battle groups. And we fight Daesh in Iraq.

Canada has a very unique relationship with the U.S. and it will always continue to be that way.

CURNOW: But Canada has recently found itself in sort of a trade dispute with the states. The Canadian government is breaking with the U.S. Company

bowing after they made a trade complaint against Canada. What does that say about U.S. Canada relations?

SAJJAN: Well, with regards to the trade dispute, we disagree with Boeing's action on this. We take action on our aerospace very seriously. We want

to work with trusted partners like we have in the past.

CURNOW: But if it gets worse, how will that affect future cooperation's in other areas particularly when we're focusing here on defense?

SAJJAN: Well, when it comes to defense, it's not just about one company our defense relationship is very deep with the U.S. and our international

partners. Canada released a new defense policy where we significantly increased our investment into defense. That is going to look out to 20

years. Procurement is a very important part of this, but also how we look after our men a women in uniform and how we're going to be dealing with the

threats together. Canada and the U.S. have the longest undefended border, so we'll be always working very closely together to look at the challenges

of today, but also challenges of the future.

CURNOW: It's a very rosy picture in many ways, but this trade dispute to nail down this, you're now buying secondhand, jets from Australia. This is

and could have an impact on Canada's military.

SAJJAN: With our defense policy, we always committed to -- we're actually increased the number of jets we're going to be purchasing. Just last week

we announced the commencement of the competition that will replace our fighter fleet. In the interim during that transition period, we are buying

additional jets so that we can continue to fly the missions that we have. Our NORAD missions and also NATO one as well. We will always have the

right to us to be able to meet our needs and also to be a responsible coalition partner.

[10:20:17] CURNOW: As we look ahead to this speech does it concern you, does it concern Canada that climate change has been removed from the list

of things that impact on national security? What do you make of that, that the Americans are essentially denying the impact of climate change,

particularly when it comes to the impact on communities?

SAJJAN: Well, it's no secret that Canada believes that climate change is real and climate has an impact on security. We're seeing this quite often

in conflict zones. Canada will always be a champion in this regard. We'll continue to work with our allies on this very important issue.

CURNOW: Last question. Will you ever buy jets from Boeing again?

SAJJAN: We'll always work with good partners. We have a good relationship with Boeing. We've done some great work with them in the past. We'll --

I'm sure we'll have a good understanding into the future.

CURNOW: The defense minister of Canada, thanks so much for joining us here on CNN.

SAJJAN: Thank you very much for having me.

CURNOW: So now to some other stories on our radar. Next hour the British parliament will begin debating whether to put more pressure on Libya. The

report exposing that country's slave trade and showing migrants being sold at auction. Austria's right wing government has been sworn in. The new

chancellor Sebastian Kirk will head a coalition of conservatives and a far right Party. The ceremony took place while thousands protested outside.

Lebanon police are questioning a taxi driver in the murder of a British embassy worker. A source tells CNN he picked her up from Beirut bar on

Friday night. Her remains were found the next day on a remote highway. Authorities say she had been assaulted and strangled.

Any moment now South Africa will find out who the African national congress has chosen to succeed President Jacob Zuma to lead the party. The Party is

up against President Zuma's ex-wife. The winner is likely to be the next President. David McKenzie has more from Johannesburg.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ANC delegates pray for unity. This is the public face of a bitter battle. The ANC has lost supporters as Zuma

faces hundreds of allegations of corruption and fraud. So delegates hope this crucial vote for his replacement as Party leader will signal the

rebirth of the once proud ANC. Sending a message to South Africa and the world. Openly disagreeing with the Party's leadership. This is democracy

in action, but less than 5,000 people will make a choice for more than two million South Africans.

Just down the road on the street where Nelson Mandela live, South African's died in the struggle against apartheid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it that we are going to meet when we arrive?

MCKENZIE: The survivors are disillusioned with the party of Mandela. They say the ANC has lost its way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We rarely have a question like that, do these people know how much we have sacrificed for this country?

MCKENZIE: He says whether the deputy president or a former minister and Zuma's ex-wife win, the ANC must still reckon with the rot and the woman

perhaps responsible for exposing the allegation agrees.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it only about President Zuma? That would be a mistake because I think the waters have been poisoned.

MCKENZIE: Zuma denies all the charges of corruption and he is famous for surviving scandal. Will the ANC overcome his legacy? David McKenzie, CNN,

Johannesburg.

(END VIDEO)

CURNOW: So David and his team are there on the ground and are monitoring that announcement which is expected in the next half an hour or so, even

sooner. We'll keep you posted on that.

[10:25:06] Also we are watching these images. The houses of parliament in London where Theresa May is expected to speak about Brexit. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: We are expecting to hear from Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May in the coming few minutes, she will speak in parliament about the latest in

the Brexit negotiations. It comes after Mrs. May met with her cabinet to discuss what Britain wants to the final deal. Let's go straight to Downing

Street where the Bianca Nobilo is standing by. They're trying to figure out what this looks like at the end. More details on that.

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN PRODUCER: That is exactly what they're trying to do. It's pretty incredible that today was the first time the Prime Minister's

cabinet was meeting to discuss the desired end state of Brexit when you think how long ago article 50 was triggered it has just today that they

were having that talk. What's interesting about the composition of the Prime Minister's cabinet is the most influential ministers in this country

are split when it comes to Brexit.

You have the Chancellor Phillip Hammond and the home secretary who favor close alignment with the E.U. to get more market access in the coming

years, because they're most concerned about jobs and keeping the economic status quo. On the other side you have the foreign secretary Boris Johnson

who wants to see the U.K. able to diverge quite markedly from the E.U. ad have more autonomy to start free trade deals with other countries, so that

is a big division. How those ideas are going to be reconciled, we don't yet know. There will be another discussion tomorrow as well. Robyn.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another discussion tomorrow but in the coming hours, I understand that Theresa May is actually in the chamber. Do

we know what she's going to say and how she says it and what is the reaction there on the ground?

NOBILO: We have some clues as to what she'll be saying. Essentially she's going to be focusing on the implementation period. So that's also Brexit

on the 29th of March 2019. She is going to say that she'll be pushing for the U.K. to continue its ability to trade with European countries.

CURNOW: Bianca, I'm going to leave it at that. We see Theresa May has just jumped up. She's about to speak. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Let me briefly cover the discussions on Russia, Jerusalem, migration and education. In each case, the U.K. made

a substantive contribution -- both as a current member of the E.U. and in the spirit of the new, deep and special partnership. We want to build with

our European neighbors.

Mr. Speaker, Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea was the first time since the Second World War that one sovereign nation has forcibly taken territory

from another in Europe.

Since then human rights have worsened. Russia has fomented conflict in the Donbas and the peace process in Ukraine has stalled.

As I said at the Lord Mayor's Banquet, the U.K. will do what is necessary to protect ourselves and to work with our allies to do likewise -- both now

and after we have left the E.U.

So we were at the forefront of the original call for E.U. sanctions. And at this council, we agreed to extend those sanctions for a further six

months.

On Jerusalem, I made it clear that we disagree with the United States' decision to move its embassy and recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital

before a final status agreement. And like our E.U. partners, we will not be following suit.

But it is vital that we continue to work with the United States to encourage them to bring forward proposals that will reenergize the peace

process.

And this must be based around support for a two state solution and an acknowledgement that the final status of Jerusalem must be subject to

negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

On migration, when we leave the European Union we will be taking back control of our own borders and laws, so we will be free to decide our own

approach independently of the E.U.

But as part of the new partnership we want to build, I made it clear at this Council that we will continue to play our full part in working with

the E.U. on this shared challenge.

So we will retain our maritime presence in the Mediterranean for as long as necessary. We will work with Libyan law enforcement to enhance their

capability to tackle people smuggling networks.

And we will continue to address the root causes of the problem by investing for the long term in education, jobs and services -- both in countries of

origin and transit.

When it comes to education, Mr. Speaker, our world-leading universities remain a highly attractive destination for students from across the E.U.,

while U.K. students also benefit from studying overseas.

U.K. and E.U. universities will want to -- still want to work together after we leave the E.U. and indeed to cooperate with other universities

from around the world. We will discuss how to achieve this in the long term as part of the negotiations on our future deep and special

partnership.

But in the meantime I was pleased to confirm at this Council that U.K. students will be able to continue to participate in the Erasmus student

exchange program for at least another three years until the end of this budget period.

Turning -- turning to Brexit, the European Council formally agreed on Friday that sufficient progress has been made to move on to the second

stage of the negotiations.

This is an important step on the road to delivering the smooth and orderly Brexit that people voted for in June last year. And I want to thank Jean-

Claude Juncker for his personal efforts, and Donald Tusk and my fellow leaders for the constructive way they have approached this process.

With Friday's Council, we have now achieved my first priority of a reciprocal agreement on citizens' rights. E.U. Citizens living in the U.K.

will have their rights enshrined in U.K. law and enforced by British courts. And U.K. citizens living in the E.U. will also have their rights

protected.

Mr. Speaker, we needed both and that is what we have got -- providing vital reassurance to all these citizens and their families in the run-up to

Christmas.

On the financial settlement, I set out the principles for the House last week and the negotiations that have brought this settlement down by a

substantial amount.

Based on reasonable assumptions, the settlement is estimated to stand at between EUR35 billion and EUR39 billion in current terms. This is the

equivalent of around four years of our current budget contribution.

[10:35:00] Around two of which we expect will be covered by the implementation period. And it is far removed from some of the figures that

had been bandied around.

On Northern Ireland, as I set out in detail for the House last week, we have committed to maintain the Common Travel Area with Ireland, to uphold

the Belfast Agreement in full, and to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland while upholding the constitutional and economic

integrity of the whole United Kingdom.

And we will work closer than ever with all Northern Irish parties and the Irish government as we now enter the second phase of the negotiations.

Mr. Speaker, the guidelines published by President Tusk on Friday point to the shared desire of the E.U. and the U.K. to make rapid progress on an

implementation period, with formal talks beginning very soon. This will help give certainty to employers and families that we are going to deliver

a smooth Brexit.

As I proposed in Florence, during this strictly time-limited implementation period which we will now begin to negotiate, we would not be in the Single

Market or the Customs Union, as we will have left the European Union.

But we would propose that our access to one another's markets would continue as now, while we prepare and implement the new processes and new

systems that will underpin our future partnership.

During this period, we intend to register new arrivals from the E.U. as preparation for our future immigration system. And we will prepare for our

future independent trade policy by negotiating -- and where possible signing, trade deals with third countries, which could come into force

after the conclusion of the implementation period.

Finally -- finally, the Council also confirmed on Friday that discussions will now begin on trade and the future security partnership. I set out the

framework for our approach to these discussions in my speeches at Lancaster House and in Florence.

We will now work with our European partners with ambition and creativity to develop the details of a partnership that I firmly believe will be in the

best interests of both the U.K. and the E.U.

Mr. Speaker, since my Lancaster House speech in January, we have triggered Article 50 and begun and closed negotiations on the first phase.

We have done what many said could not be done, demonstrating what can be achieved with commitment and perseverance on both sides. And I will not be

derailed from delivering the Democratic will of the British people.

We are well on our way to delivering a smooth and orderly Brexit. That is good news for those who voted leave, who were worried the negotiations were

so complicated it was never going to happen. And it is good news for those who voted remain, who were worried that we might leave without being able

to reach an agreement.

We will now move on with building a bold new economic relationship, which together with the new trade deals we strike across the world -- can support

generations of new jobs for our people, open up new markets for our exporters and drive new growth for our economy.

We will build a new security relationship that promotes our values in the world and keeps our families safe from threats that increasingly do not

recognize geographical boundaries.

And we will bring our country together, stronger, fairer, and once again back in control of our borders, our money and our laws. Finally, Mr.

Speaker, let me say this.

We are dealing -- we are dealing with questions of great significance to our country's future, so it is natural that there are many strongly held

views on all sides of this Chamber.

And it is right and proper that we should debate them and do so with all the passion and conviction that makes our democracy what it is. But there

can never be a place for the threats of violence and intimidation against some Members that we have seen in recent days.

Our politics must be better than that. And on that note, I commend this Statement to the House.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jeremy Corbyn.

JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER, LABOUR PARTY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the prime minister for an advanced copy of her statement. On

Jerusalem, I also condemn the actions of the United States' president.

I welcome the prime minister's commitment to maintaining a maritime presence in the Mediterranean but as a humanitarian mission to save lives.

As I said last week in response to the prime minister's previous statement, we welcome progress to the second phase of negotiations. But that should

not hide the fact that this agreement comes two months later than planned and many of the key aspects of phase one are still unclear.

These negotiations are vital for people's jobs and for the economy. Our future prosperity depends on getting this right. The agreement reached on

phase one was clearly cobbled together at the 11th hour after the DUP vetoed the first attempt and evident in the vagueness of the final text

which underlines the sharp divisions within the cabinet.

[10:40:00] As we head into phase two, the truth is, the government must change track. We cannot afford to mishandle the second stage. To do this,

Mr. Speaker, the prime minister must now sort out the contradictions.

We were told -- we were told last week that the prime minister's humiliating loss on giving parliament a final say on a BREXIT deal made the

prime minister weak. And the Daily Mail which previously brandished the judicial as enemies of the people is now whipping up hatred against back

bench rebel MPs.

Threat and intimidation have no place in our politics. And the truth of it is -- and the truth of it is, Mr. Speaker, its division and infighting in

her own cabinet and their reliance on the DUP that makes them weak.

So will the prime minister welcome parliament voting to take back control? Mr. Speaker, we've already seen ministers in her cabinet like the Brexit

secretary and the secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs give the impression that the agreement cane changed or ignored.

That it effectively doesn't amount to a hill of beans. And it's not very reassuring that this is the end product of eight months of negotiations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Jeremy Corbyn there in the Houses of Parliament. Bianca is standing by, listening to all of this outside 10 Downing Street. Just

before Jeremy Corbyn came up, Mrs. May made a pretty short statement. Not a lot of detail. Did we get anything new about where Brexit is going?

NOBILO: The areas of that speech that were new, Robyn, were really around the prime minister's vision for this so-called implementation period.

Provisionally around two years after when the U.K. leaves the E.U.

She said that she intends for the trading relationship between the U.K. and the E.U. to continue as now despite the U.K. leaving the Customs Union and

the Single Market. How that will be achieved, we don't know.

Also she said that the U.K. will start to register arrivals from the European Union into the U.K. order in to prepare for the future immigration

system where free movement will obviously stop.

She's also said that she intends to be able to sign trade deals with third countries. That will be a great sticking point for the E.U. because they

have made it quite clear in the past that's not a possibility.

Another part of what she said, Robyn, I just wanted to flag up as the prime minister did mention that the U.K. will continue to work with the E.U. and

the Libyan authorities to stop the smuggling of people into Europe.

Now that's poignant today because there's a debate happening in parliament that was motivated by the exclusive reporting of the CNN team into human

slavery and slave auctions of black African men in Libya and their plight to try and reach the European continent. So it's interesting that she

mentioned that today, Robyn, when that debate will be starting immediately in parliament.

CURNOW: Yes, it will and we'll bring live coverage of that as well. Bianca, there in front of 10 Downing Street, thank you. You're watching

CNN. More news after the break.

[10:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: You are watching CNN and this is Connect the World with me, Robyn Curnow. Welcome back. Now in the coming hours, the British parliament is

also going to debate putting more pressure on Libya following an exclusive CNN report on that country's slave trade.

Now, in October, our Nima Elbagir and her team saw people being sold at auction. They were migrants or refugees trying to reach Europe.

Now, the international organization for migration is preparing to return 15,000 people to their native countries. Amara Walker talked to

spokesperson for the IOM who says our report served as a wakeup call around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEONARD DOYLE, SPOKESMAN, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION: We did break the story if you will about a couple of months back, but just putting

out a press release and describing it isn't really good enough nowadays.

What it really took was extraordinary bravery by CNN's reporters, going into Libya, witnessing an auction of human beings and then broadcasting it.

I mean, it was just Seminole and its importance.

And it took -- it transform the debate which has been a bit toxic, to say the least about migration. Many people, a bit negative on migrants to say

the least, blaming them for the problems they get into.

And then when we saw people being sold as pieces of commerce, it changed everybody's mind and it brought Africans and Europeans together in a way I

haven't seen before.

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tell me more about that because now, the IOM is going to help repatriate 15,000 displaced people/migrants back to

their home countries from Libya. What kind of conversations had to take place for that to happen?

DOYLE: Well, IOM is working in Libya for a long time in the detention centers, helping migrants, making sure that they're safe, keeping women

separated from men and trying to improve their lot and advocating strongly for them release from these retention centers.

Now the difficulty is that that's not been happening. But once this slavery issue came to the fore, we were getting phone calls from the

director general of IOM. I got a phone call from the African Union and from the European Union. And that is what led to this.

WALKER: Was this a matter of getting those home countries to help in the repatriation process?

DOYLE: I mean I think it was -- first of all, everybody had to see that it's a disgrace for this to be happening. So, let's try and fix it. Let's

try and get these people to safety. I think once they recognized that, everybody was going to be blamed if you couldn't fix it quickly, they

quickly found a solution.

Like getting over flags allowing entry without visa, making sure that the money is there to pay for the chartered flights that are taking people

back. It is an enormous air lift as you can imagine.

And IOM has surge in many staff come from around the world to make it -- to make it a success and is terribly important that any of those who are being

brought out, being -- any who are entitled to refugee status being taking aside and the U.N. refugee agency.

Any trafficked people are protected, any unaccompanied minors. It's not just a question of people putting on planes -- putting people on planes.

It's a question also having when they get home to make sure that they have something to look forward to. They have a business ground or some support.

WALKER: All right. We're glad that CNN's reporting was able to affect some change.

[10:50:00] And we should mention that the U.N. estimates that there are about 700,000 to 1 million migrants in Libya. Many of whom are trying to

make their way to Europe.

They're obviously in a very vulnerable position. And of course the challenge is you know, getting -- finding ways to either get them back to

port or to their homes or keeping them safe.

We're going to have to leave it there. Leonard Doyle, we appreciate you joining us with the International Organization for Migration.

DOYLE: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Thanks to, Amara and Leonard, for that. You're watching CNN. This is Connect the World. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: You're watching CNN. And this is Connect the World with me, Robyn Curnow. Welcome back. Tonight's Parting Shots, Prince Harry and former

U.S. President Barack Obama have developed a close friendship over the years.

They're both interested in helping foster the next generation of young leaders. Now the prince has interviewed the former president for BBC radio

and maybe unsurprisingly there's quite a lot of banter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Do I have to speak faster?

PRINCE HARRY, PRINCE OF WALE: No, no.

OBAMA: Do I need the British accent?

PRINCE HARRY: If you start using long pauses between the answers. This is good.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: OK. I'm ready. You guys have sound?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're sounding great.

OBAMA: You're all good?

PRINCE HARRY: You're excited about this, aren't you?

OBAMA: It's fun. I'll interview you, if you want. .

PRINCE HARRY: No, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Well, before we go, box offices around the world are felling the force of the new Star Wars movie. According to Disney, The Last Jedi,

brought an estimated $220 million on its opening weekend in the U.S.

Now that is the second largest movie debut ever. It's made $250 million world wide since last Wednesday and it doesn't even open in China until

January -- so those numbers sure to increase.

So from films making blockbuster debuts to an entire country where the silver screen is returning after 35-year ban, we learn how Saudi Arabia is

embracing this change and so much more -- all of that on our Facebook page. That's Facebook.com/CNNconnect.

[10:55:00] Any moment now, we are keeping an eye on South Africa. That is President Jacob Zuma. Who will succeed him? The African National Congress

has voted to choose his successor.

We are waiting for that final announcement there in Soweto just hours inside Johannesburg in the company's deputy president is up against a

former wife of President Zuma.

And so these images, joyful distancing, a decision has been made we understand but we are waiting for the announcement. So we'll bring you

that as soon as it happens.

I'm Robyn Curnow. You have been watching Connect the World. I will be back in just a few moments with the International Desk. Stay with us for

all of that.

END