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Donald Trump Defense 2016 Hush Money Payments; Trump Accused of Using Distractions as Political Tactic; Zaghari-Ratcliffe Freed from Iranian Prison for 3 Days; Is Britain Ready for No Deal Brexit; Australian Ministers Dropped Their Support for Turnbull; Saudi Arabia Denies Scrapping Aramco IPO. Aired 11-12p ET
Aired August 23, 2018 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Later on, later on, they didn't come out of the campaign. They came from me.
REPORTER: Did you know about the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels?
TRUMP: No, no.
SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The President has done nothing wrong. There are no charges against him. There is no collusion.
TRUMP: I have this witch hunt constantly going on. It's a disgrace, it's frank lay real disgrace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: We're across your world tonight connecting every side of it. I'm Becky Anderson here in London, where it is 4:00 in the
afternoon, it is 11:00 a.m. in the American capitol.
And we begin with denials and deflections as U.S. President Donald Trump digs in. He's fighting back today after being implicated in crimes that
were allegedly committed to influence the very election that put him in the White House. Mr. Trump says they aren't crimes at all.
As part of the plea deal his former attorney Michael Cohen said then- candidate Trump directed him to make hush money payments to two women. Those are felony crimes that violate campaign finance laws. Mr. Trump says
not so. Since he paid the money himself. With his presidency in crisis over the allegations, Mr. Trump burned the midnight oil tweeting around
1:00 a.m. No collusion, rigged witch hunt! In all caps. He also spoke to Fox News suggesting Cohen shouldn't have been allowed to make a plea deal.
Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: People make up stories. This whole thing about flipping they call it. I know all about flipping for 30, 40 years I've been watching
flippers. Everything is wonderful and then they get ten years in jail and they flip on whoever the next highest one is. Or as high as you can go.
It almost ought to be outlawed, it's not fair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Let's bring in White House reporter Stephen Collinson who says a reckoning could be coming for President Trump. We're joined by White House
correspondent Abby Phillip. You've heard the U.S. President speaking to the Fox News network. This is a President who was up early this morning
and actually up very late last night. Unusual for Donald Trump. What's he have to say for himself?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well the President had a lot to say in that interview, which was the first interview after Michael
Cohen, his former personal attorney, pled guilty. But the key part about Michael Cohen is that he implicated President Trump in the crimes that he
said he committed. He said President Trump directed and coordinated his decision to pay these women from for the purposes of hiding those payments
from the public at a critical time during the campaign.
And all of this has had a lot of people here in Washington and elsewhere talking about the issue of impeachment. Do these alleged crimes and do
the, does the implication that President Trump was involved raise the specter of impeachment. Trump was asked about this in his interview with
Fox News and here's how he answered it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a great job. I'll tell you what, if I ever got impeached, I think the market would
crash. I think everybody would be very poor. Because without this thinking, you would see, you would see numbers that you wouldn't believe.
In reverse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: And as you can tell, the President there focused on the economy, which he says is going well. But the issue of impeachment is one that is
strictly political. It's about whether or not there are enough people in Congress in this case likely Democrats who are willing to bring this
against the President. And clearly, it's something that he's been thinking about. He talked about the idea that it needs to be high crimes and
misdemeanors. This all really wrapping a busy week for the President. And one that really has put him in perhaps more peril legally than he has been
up until this point -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Stephen, he says he has done a great job. Donald Trump worries about how things would be, should he be impeached. Sometimes a picture
says it all, doesn't it? "Time" magazine has captured Mr. Trump's presidency in crisis with this cover, "In Deep."
[11:05:05] Stephen, you say a reckoning could be coming for President Trump. He certainly wouldn't agree with you. Why do you say that?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, it's pretty fascinating that the President himself is now being forced to respond to this sort of
buzz about the possibility of impeachment. However far-fetched that might be at the moment. I think what has happened is you've seen over the last
24 hours or so, the White House and the President himself has been testing various defense strategies to try and bounce back after that stunning day
on Tuesday with the convictions of two of his close associates, Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort and they really haven't managed to get an awful lot
of traction.
It doesn't look right now that the President would be impeached for violations of campaign finance law. There will be a debate about whether
that would be, you know, would satisfy the requirement for high crimes and misdemeanors. But this thing is nowhere near over. There could be all
sorts of ramifications from what happened on Tuesday, particularly for example if Manafort or Cohen were to cooperate with the prosecutor, if they
have anything to say about alleged collusion with Russia, for example, during the 2016 campaign.
What we do know is that the special prosecutor, Robert Mueller now has some validation, because he sent Manafort to jail on the words of a jury that
undermines the idea that this is a witch hunt. And he's pressing this forward. And we really don't know where it's going to go. But it looks
like it's going to get a lot worse for President Trump and that's what I mean when I say that he may escape the worst consequences of what's
happening right now. But things seem to be getting darker and darker by the week.
ANDERSON: Abby, President Trump promised he would drain the swamp and surround himself by the best people. Well we know how that has gone.
What's the mood amongst his administration? His people at this point?
PHILLIP: There's a sense here that these are disturbing patterns. But particularly that they come at a bad time for Republicans. We are now
about two months away from a midterm election cycle. There's some concern more broadly among Republicans that there is a sense that is permeating to
the American people of a public corruption. That people around the President are being charged with crimes or pleading guilty or being found
guilty of those crimes.
And then you have others, we've had two members of Congress in the last several weeks, two prominent Trump supporters, who have been indicted also
in federal crimes, so that is, a brewing concern underneath the surface. But for folks here at the White House, I think there are a lot of people
who don't know exactly where this is all going. And to Stephen's point, it's not clear if they have a handle on how to deal with it. The President
is trying all sorts of things. But none of it is really breaking through. None of it is really changing the narrative.
ANDERSON: Stephen, the story about the hush money payments has shifted so many times. That it is actually hard to keep the facts straight. Or even
know what they are at all. Let's show our viewers what Mr. Trump is saying now, versus back at the beginning of all of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Did you know about the payments?
TRUMP: Later on, I knew.
REPORTER: Mr. President, did you know about the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels??
TRUMP: No. No.
REPORTER: Why did Michael Cohen make this, if there was no truth to her allegations?
TRUMP: You'd have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney and you'll have to ask Michael Cohen.
REPORTER: Do you know where he got the money to make those payments?
TRUMP: I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: This is a President who many have described as being nothing less than Teflon. Nothing sticks, neither the sort of distractions that he
has created at times. A sort of "wag the dog" distractions to get away from a story which is clouding or distracting him all the facts or even
outright lies. Will any of this ever stick?
COLLINSON: I think there comes a point when alternative reality hits a brick wall. We saw that this week when facts and truth as revealed by
legal process really do matter. And if that ever comes toward the President, that's where I think he'll be in danger. By the way, that,
those few clips were exactly the reason why many people in Trump's camp don't want him to sit down with Robert Mueller. He can't keep his story
straight on anything. Whether it's the hush money payments or anything else. So, that just shows you some of the legal vulnerability that the
President is facing.
[11:10:01] ANDERSON: Your analysis out of Washington, guys, thank you for that. And you can get more of Stephen Collinson's analysis online. Be
sure to check out his piece that says, after one day where truth and facts triumphed, America is back to its alternative realities. That and more at
CNN.com.
Despite a firestorm in Washington, Donald Trump is turning part of his attention away from home. We've heard that before, haven't we? And rather
bizarrely some might say -- focusing on issues around South African agriculture. Yup, you heard it here, South African agriculture. He
tweeted this, I have asked Secretary of State Pompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large-scale
killing of farmers.
Now the tweet seems to be in response to a report on Fox News which alleged white farmers are being targeted. South Africa's government has hit back.
David McKenzie is in Johannesburg with a lot more on that one. Brian Stelter is in New York. Tell me why the President may have chosen to focus
on the issue in the first place. David to you first, on the ground, from Pretoria's perspective, what's being said and how are they responding?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well the ruling ANC is certainly outraged. And very quickly, Becky, you had the presidency here responding,
saying they totally reject this narrow perception. Which only seeks to divide a nation and reminds us of our colonial past.
And just briefly fact-checking what President Trump and Fox News were saying on the issue of land redistribution in South Africa, you know, farms
are not being seized right now. And farm murders, which are tragic of course, are not at historic highs, certainly not compared to where they
were some years ago. So, it appears that President Trump is using this. In a way, he is reflecting what has become a kind of rallying cry on the
story from white nationalists in fact globally fueled by more right-wing elements here in South Africa -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Very briefly, any merits, any merits in what Donald Trump tweeted this morning about the issue?
MCKENZIE: Well there certainly is a land issue here and it's an emotional one. And why the South African government says this is unhelpful is
because Donald Trump is wading into this issue, domestic issue in South Africa that is very complex. And very difficult to sort out. Some 70
percent of the land, the private land in South Africa is owned by white South Africans, despite the demographics of this country. The ANC is
moving to accelerate land redistribution. Now there are some who are saying that the communications on this issue and the uncertainty has scared
away investors and is leaving some in the country to be nervous about their future. But certainly, it is not in the terms that Donald Trump describes
and most South Africans wouldn't see it in that way, either -- Becky.
ANDERSON: David McKenzie is in Johannesburg today for you.
And brain, this is not the first time Donald Trump has been accused of using distraction as a political tactic. Just this week. Mr. Trump
claimed Barack Obama broke campaign finance rules during his first Presidential campaign. And who could forget when he brought up Sweden at a
rally in Florida last year after seeing a story on immigration there on Fox News. The NFL has been a frequent target for the President during some of
the political turmoil at home. And not even Meryl Streep has been able to escape his wrath. Mr. Trump called the multi-Oscar-winning actress one of
the most overrated in Hollywood. Is this a tactic? And if so, are people starting to see through it?
STELTER: Change the subject. It's definitely a tactic that the President uses, he tries to change the subject. And many, not all, but many of the
stories that he tries to highlight exploit racial divisions. And create that kind of discomfort. Whereas other Presidents try to heal, this
President tries to divide and exploit racial divisions. Which leaves him open to the charge that he is racist or engaging in racist conduct. And
this is just the very latest example.
A couple of things are going on at the same time here. Right? On one level he's just watching Fox News and making decisions based on what he
sees on Fox. So, running the government via Fox News talk shows. On another level he is playing white identity politics. He's tapping into a
feeling that he knows many of his fans have. And a feeling of grievance and fear among white-working class voters in America about changing
demographics. And that's what Fox News was doing too with this Tucker Carlson segment. Well the President apparently watched it, saw the segment
about South Africa and then reacted to it.
[11:15:00] And I think we should be clear, Tucker Carlson's segment -- take it for whatever it was -- this issue has been popular among white
supremacists and white nationalists for quite some time. And then all of a sudden it shows up on Tucker Carlson show. So, there's a notable
connection there between extremists and fringe groups and then a story showing up on Fox.
And by the way the ADL has just spoken out about this. The Anti-Defamation League here in the U.S., issued a strong statement, calling out the
President for this. Saying it is extremely disturbing that the President of the United States echoed a longstanding and false white supremacist
claim that the South Africa's white farmers are targeted of large-scale racially motivated for killing. The statement went on to say, we would
hope that the President would try to understand the facts and realities of the situation in South Africa, rather than repeat disturbing, racially
divisive talking points used most frequently by white supremacists.
But we've seen time and time again the President gets a lot of facts, a lot of his reality from his favorite shows on Fox News. And some of those
shows also sow racial division.
ANDERSON: 11:15 in New York, it's 4:15 here. And at the moment I can't work out what time it is in South Africa but it's a good time. David
McKenzie. Thank you.
The way the media deals with some of Donald Trump's accusations of the focus of today's "CNN TALK". Max Foster and the panel looked at how
journalists need to respond to claims of fake news, especially when they come all the way from the White House. Here with some of the discussion
from Edinburgh's international TV festival earlier. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, we stick together in this country as journalists.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're are seeing solidarity in the U.S. as well. We're starting to see solidarity in the U.S. especially in the White House
briefing room where other reporters will refer back to another reporter for being skipped over by Sarah Sanders. So, you are starting to see that.
But it's taken about a year
MAX FOSTER, CNN TALK HOST: Let's get the politicians point of view. You've acknowledged your politician first of all as opposed to your role on
the select committee. I mean, you have seen -- I'm sure you've had run-ins with the media. Stories you haven't liked. Fake news stories perhaps
would you argue. You haven't undermined the media in the way he has, have you? What's the difference in your way of thinking than his?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well I think if you're a politician or for anyone in the public eye, there will always be news stories you don't like and don't
agree with. But you don't let that distract from you doing your job. And you don't say, what I'm going to do now is I'm going to have a concerted
strategy, where I'm going to seek to attack and undermine the media for existing and investigating with things I don't agree with. And that's what
Donald Trump is doing. And I think for the President of the United States to do that, he so damaging. There's a lot more to being a democracy than
holding elections. Well they have elections in Russia. But the ability of a free media and free speech to question and interrogate people in senior
positions is vital to a healthy democracy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: That was "CNN TALK" earlier from the festival in Edinburgh.
Well it can fill up, we are being tossed around in a typhoon of conflicting information, can't it. But at the end of the day, a fact is a fact. So,
at CNN, that's what comes first, always. And we just want to take a moment to remember that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CNN ADVERTISING: This is an Apple. Some people might try to tell you it's a banana. They might scream banana, banana, banana, over and over and over
again. They might put banana in all caps. You might even start to believe that this is a banana. But it's not. This is an Apple.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Facts first. Here on CNN, still to come. A surprising development out of Iran, where a British woman is now out of prison. But
for how long? A live report on that is just ahead.
[11:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well this is Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe , who is now enjoying her first taste of freedom. For more than two years she's been imprisoned in
Iran on spying charges, which she denies, her freedom may just be temporary, it's initially for three days, but her lawyer is hoping her
release will be extended. Activists have been working to free her and the case gained new attention when former British Foreign Secretary, Boris
Johnson, got involved after he misspoke about what she was doing in Iran. And were going to get to that momentarily. Firstly, this has been a very
high-profile case from the start. Nic Robertson has been following the developments for us. It's a great day, we don't know how, for how long
perhaps you can fill us in on that. But a great day in principal for Nazanin.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well sure. I mean her family are asking for this furlough -- as it's being described -- to be
extended from the three days that it is now. She's not under house arrest but she has had to put forward certain conditions or except certain
conditions that she wouldn't do interviews with journalists, that she wouldn't leave the country. That she wouldn't go to foreign embassies.
Her father has essentially had to put up bail, the value of his property, about $100,000 so that the government would have security to know that she
would go back. So, there is a move, of course, to extend this period. And the discussions around this release actually began a couple of weeks ago.
But she said she didn't want to tell her mother or daughter because there have been so many sort of false horizons.
ANDERSON: Things did unfortunately get more complicated for her when Boris Johnson at the time, of course, was Britain's foreign secretary misspoke
and said she was training journalists in Iran. She wasn't, and Johnson had to walk back those comments. Let's just have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, THEN BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: It is simply untrue for her to say and she has said today that there is any connection whatever between
my remarks last week and the legal proceedings under way against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Tehran today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well Johnson did then promised to get involved on her behalf. But did he do more harm than good at the time?
ROBERTSON: You know, Jeremy Hunt was asked that question early this week - - the now foreign secretary and he indicated in an interview on Tuesday, that I think it was recorded actually on Monday. That on Monday this week
he had actually met with Richard Ratcliffe, Nazanin's husband, who's been the principal -- one of the principal campaigners to bring about her
release. He used, as you would expect, very diplomatic language when talking about what Boris Johnson had done. He said Boris Johnson has been
very effective trying to bring about her release. He didn't give any indication at that moment when he was speaking to Richard Ratcliffe about
what was going on behind the scenes. But very clearly at the beginning of this week the process was well under way and inching towards her release.
ANDERSON: So, just to underscore, at this point this is three days to spend time with her family, her young daughter --
ROBERTSON: Gabriella.
ANDERSON: -- Gabriella of course, absolutely -- and her husband. But at this point we do not know whether that will be extended, correct?
ROBERTSON: We don't know. The family wants it. She won't be able to meet with her husband, he's still in the U.K. Can't go to see her. She's with
her mother, with her daughter at her father's house. Clearly this is a very politicized issue, not just because of Boris Johnson, but it became
more politicized when President Trump decided to pull out of the JCPOA, the joint nuclear agreement deal with Iran. Because then that put a bigger
price on prisoner's dual nationality prisoners like Nazanin.
[11:25:00] And so, while we can look at this and see that this, this is EID, an important Muslim religious holiday and this is a time traditionally
when governments would allow some prisoners, some leniency, a little clemency to go home and see their families. You can see it in that
context. But you can see it at the same time where Iran is looking to support from European countries, to continue this JCPOA, to continue to be
able to put money into their own economy for the benefits of this deal. That you can see that there would be an element here of trying to clear any
debris, and in this case, this would be political debris in the path of making that smooth.
ANDERSON: Nic Robertson, thank you.
Just ahead, many don't want it, but the stark reality is that Brexit is coming, deal or no deal. We're going to attempt to unpick the latest mess,
up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: For those of you just joining us it is half past 4:00 in London, and you are very welcome. We are following political turmoil here on
CONNECT THE WORLD in three countries this hour.
In the United States, President Donald Trump says he did nothing wrong after his former attorney directly many implicated him in felony crimes.
In Britain, officials making contingency plans for managing the fallout if Brexit talks collapse. They call that unlikely.
And in Australia, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull vows he won't give in to, quote, "bullies" in the face of a serious threat to his leadership. Let's
kick off -- I'll tell you what. Let's kick off in the U.K.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOMINIC RAAB, U.K. BREXIT MINISTER: I'm still confident that getting a good deal is by far the most likely outcome. The vast majority roughly 80
percent of withdrawal agreement is now been agreed. And were making further progress on those outstanding separation issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:30:00] ANDERSON: That's the U.K.'s Brexit Secretary there feeling upbeat or certainly sounding so about over reaching a deal with the EU over
his country's exit from the bloc. While at the same time releasing the first of some 80 technical notices spelling out what will happen if the
Britain ends up crashing out of the European Union without an agreement. There has been a lot of confusion over the details. Thankfully CNN's
Bianca Nobilo is here to break it all down for us. You have a wad of papers there, which I know you have read. What are the details we have
learned today seriously?
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I do have a wad and I'm going to try to break this up with visual aids. Because you and I both know it can
be a little difficult to get through. So, today we have 148 pages released of technical . This is just advice, practical advice for people and for
businesses in the U.K. about what to do in the event of a no deal. So, this is the advice right here. As you can see it's pretty thick. And it's
an important symbol. Because this is just the beginning of the bureaucracy in the event of a no deal.
And in fact, in this wad the government suggests that businesses employ a customs broker, so they add a member of staff, which is a huge ask,
especially if it's a small or medium-size business. Just solely to look at the new bureaucracy that there would be in the event of a new deal.
Because there'll be plenty more forms, they'll be tax declarations, customs declarations, so that's one of their suggestions. So, that is prop 1 of
the wad.
Two will be this credit card. I'll will just cover that number there, because it's mine. And that is because there will be new credit card
charges in the event of a no deal. And also, payments are going to take longer. So, if you and I wanted to buy something from a European website
let's say, we'd have to make the same sort of charge, for example, we're making at the moment if were buying off a U.S. website. And not to mention
the fact that the British people living in Europe may not be able to access their bank accounts in the event of a no deal. And also, there's a
question mark over pensions. People living in Europe that are British citizens, so really serious tangible stuff.
And the last crop are these potatoes. You'll notice on this pack of potatoes, they have this organic logo here. Now what we learned in the big
wad today was the fact that if you're an organic farmer and there's a no deal there could be a nine-month period where you can't sell your produce.
And that's because in order to trade in the EU's organic market you have to be certified by the EU's organic body. Well that takes around nine months.
And if the EU and the U.K. come to no deal, then those farmers in the U.K. will have to wait -- this is a bureaucratic thing -- until they're a third
country, so until the day of Brexit -- to actually apply to be part of that body. So that means that these people who depend on the being able to
trade for the EU for their livelihoods won't be able to.
ANDERSON: Let's just underscore why all of this is so important. Some people out there who say, listen, it was a good two years ago that the
British public voted to leave the European Union. At the time there was no white paper. There was nothing to say what that leave would mean. Why
haven't there been contingency plans until now? And we're talking about what, nine months, this sort of planning, this is a problem for business
and for the likes of you and me, there's been no planning it feels, or it certainly seems until now, correct?
NOBILO: Exactly and this is what businesses have said today. They said frankly, too little, too late. The CBI, the British chamber of commerce,
they said we've employed consultants to look at this. You've told us nothing that the consultants haven't told us already. And businesses have
been saying that all along that we need more certainty. Because of course, they can't make their decisions on the day of Brexit. They need to be
looking at least a year ahead. If it's a big business, then certainly many months ahead.
However, the government have said that it's only natural that the no deal planning would accelerate towards the end of the process, because they're
beginning to understand what the possibilities might be. However, what I would say, is of course, prior to the referendum itself there were almost
no contingency plans made for what would happen if the British people voted to leave the EU. And that's been one of the chief criticisms of Cameron
and George Osbourne, and the fact that that wasn't adequately planned for. So, I suppose at best we have something and this wad -- I'm going to show
it because I think it's important that everybody looks at how much there is to get through here. That's just a third of what we're going to get from
the U.K. And also, I think it's useful to know that the EU produced its own version of this, 68 notices. And they did that many, many months ago. So,
I think that highlights the fact that the EU is approaching this in a more orderly fashion than the U.K.
ANDERSON: So, a 40-odd year marriage takes some time to unravel. It's the extent to which it will be unraveled that's completely unclear at this
point. Thank you for your wad, your credit card and your organic potatoes --
NOBILO: You're very welcome.
ANDERSON: -- they help in what is a very complicated story. Thank you.
A hit American TV show takes us to our next big political drama, "Out of Australia."
[11:35:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"HOUSE OF CARDS" FROM NETFLIX: You want to know what takes real courage? Holding it all together. When the stakes are this high.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The U.S. TV drama "House of Cards" there, probably recognize it. Right now, the real-life political chaos of one country is being linked to
that award-winning show. It's Australia. This Twitter account jokingly tells the country "House of Cards" is not an instructional video. And
here's why. A flurry of resignations from a cabinet, once loyal ministers turn on their leader and a head of government, quite frankly, on the brink.
Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull already survived a leadership contest on Monday, yes, on Monday.
On Friday there is the prospect of another. Now Mr. Turnbull is insisting he will not stand down. But says he will resign if there is a second
ballot. So, Mr. Turnbull has been under pressure from an uprising within his own Conservative Party over climate change policy. Here is what he
told reporters in Canberra, have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MALCOLM TURNBULL, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: What began as a minority has by a process of intimidation, you know, persuaded people that the only way
to stop the insurgency is to give into it. Now I do not believe in that. I've never done that. I've never given into bullies. But you can imagine
the pressure it's put people under.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: It's said a week is a long time in politics. Malcolm Turnbull can vouch for that. Ministers who have backed him earlier this week in the
first leadership contest, have since changed their tune quite literally lining up to do so, in fact. Have a listen to some of them and what they
had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELIA CASH, AUSTRALIAN JOBS MINISTER: I, too, supported the Prime Minister in the ballot on Tuesday. I became aware yesterday that it was
very clear that the Prime Minister no longer in my opinion, had the confident of the party.
MITCH FIFIELD, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER: It's become apparent is that a majority of highly-ranked colleagues believed that there should be a
transition.
MATHIAS CORMANN, AUSTRALIAN FINANCE MINISTER: The reason that we came to that view. Is because of the number of colleagues that came forward who
supported Malcolm in the leadership ballot on Tuesday. Who indicated to us that they had changed their position.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: For those who are not familiar with Australian politics, I just want to show you how many prime ministers Australia has had in the last 11
years. John Howard lost his job to Kevin Rudd. Kevin Rudd in 2007 election. In 2010 before he finished his first term he lost a leadership
contest to Julia Gillard. They were members of the same party, so she took the PM's job.
Three years later Mr. Rudd made a comeback winning a leadership vote replacing MS. Gillard. Months later Australians voted him out of the top
job and elected his conservative rival, Tony Abbott. 2015, Malcolm Turnbull challenged him for the leadership and won. If he goes, that would
be seven prime ministers since 2011. Great. Not great for them is it?
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD, coming up, economic history in the making. Saudi Arabia says it is committed to selling shares in oil giant
Aramco. What they've said and why it matters, up next.
[11:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: These images may look different to say the crown jewels of the United Kingdom or the gleaming gold bars of Fort Knox. But to Saudi
Arabia, this is one of the country's greatest treasures. The vast and vastly lucrative fields of national oil company Aramco.
Well Saudi Arabia says it remains committed to selling shares in the company. Which could mean the biggest IPO in history. Saudi Arabia says
Aramco is worth around $2 trillion. That would be double Apple's value. But as it stands things, well things are on a hold. Investors are being
spooked by report that the IPO had been called off. John Defterios in the house, what's going on here, John?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNNMONEY EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: It's interesting, I was speaking to a number of different industry insiders, one said the optics
don't look good with all the delays. That really is the bottom line. "Reuters" came out with a story last night quoting industry sources
suggesting they've been told that some of the mandates for the banks haven't been renewed and it's on hold. I did speak to Aramco last night
and then got a statement from the Minister of Energy. Suggesting, as you suggested in the lead in their, we're committed but we're on our own
timeline. Then I went back to look at last public comment that came from the Minister of Energy. There's a lot of power with their wide portfolio
of industry and mining as well. And he said, look we are going to go ahead with the IPO, 2019 might be a good idea. But he was clear not to nail down
a date whatsoever. Let's take a listen to what he had to say, and then we can pick up off of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHALID AL FALIH, SAUDI ENERGY MINISTER: I think it would be nice if we can do it in 2019. You know as far as I'm concerned, getting it done and
having people like you stop asking me question, would be a relief. But at the end of the day, there is a lot more at stake, John, than just kicking a
box and saying we, we got this out of the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS: That's been part of the challenge, Becky. This came from the Crown Prince who said it was going to be the largest IPO ever and they
wanted to go to the New York Stock Exchange. So, the expectations were very, very high. It was left to the Minister of Energy and then CEO of
Aramco to prepare the company. But they're not eager to rush.
Now other sources that were with the Aramco CEO, who was traveling to Europe last night, said the story came out of the blue. As you know, it's
the EID holiday week. They had no idea where this came from. So, it took them a while to scramble and get it signed off by the minister of energy.
But there's a danger here with all the delays. You know, one could be the filtering over into foreign direct investment. Because you don't have
confidence that some of these deadlines are going to be met. And the other challenge is after all the arrest of the millionaires and billionaires,
they took in 100 billion, but it's keeping capital in the country. Therefore, does the 2030 plan stay on track?
ANDERSON: Correct. Because it was the money from the IPO that was very much at heart of funding what we know to be this vision 2030. And to
borrow a line while quite frankly for myself, is the Crown Prince's sort of grand vision 2030, getting a little blurry at this point?
DEFTERIOS: Well I think the one who suffers the most here is the one who was the author of that big plan and that's himself. He made that big
declaration about Aramco. And that was going to be as one strategist told me today, that was a battering ram that was going to knock down all
barriers to tackle what you were suggesting here. Now that's out of the picture. They can still raise money by the way. They're acquiring a $70
billion stake in SABIC, a big chemical company.
[11:45:00] That can be funneled into the public investment fund it doesn't have the fanfare, it's a not a New York Stock Exchange listing. There's no
big bragging rights that go along with it. So, that is the danger from him. But there's other major projects. There's the NEOM project in the
northwest, as you know, on the border of Jordan and Egypt. The Kadia entertainment project, massive outside of Riyadh. So, some of the reforms
are going ahead. Women are driving. The entertainment center is being set up. But he has to raise billions of dollars and diversify for this to
happen.
Now when it comes to a public investment fund. He's allocated money to go to Tesla and to Uber and they have their sights on other issues. This
boils down to the fact that the Minister of Energy himself was never a big fan about going public. He thought it posed too much of a risk.
Particularly when it comes to New York because of the legal challenges in opening up Saudi Arabia to lawsuits because of the 9/11 victims or even the
environmental standards as well.
ANDERSON: And just the legislation, of course, --
DEFTERIOS: Of course.
ANDERSON: -- you are referring to. John, thank you, fascinating. Not a story that will go away given our region and where we are based. John and
I are of course usually based in Abu Dhabi.
Coming up, from lava bombs to a hurricane, mother nature taking another blow at Hawaii. We see how locals are preparing for the damaging storm, up
next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well that was last night's successful lift-off of the European space agency's Aeolus. Yesterday we gave you a look at this new satellite.
The first-ever to make sense of the wind, we are told, by measuring its speed as it traverses the earth. You can be sure the satellite will be
measuring the massive winds of hurricanes like the one barreling towards Hawaii at this very moment.
Hurricane Lane is now a category 4 storm packing sustained winds of more than 230 kilometers an hour. This is a view of the massive storm from
space. Officials warn heavy rain could trigger flash floods. Residents are being told to stock up on 14 days' worth of supplies and be prepared to
shelter in place.
CNN's Nick Watt tracking the storm for us live from Honolulu -- Nick.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, here in Honolulu it is five so far. The hurricane, the eye of the hurricane is now about 200 miles off the Big
Island. Which is just a little bit south of us and they are seeing heavy wind and heavy rain. Apparently 12 inches of rain has fallen in just 12
hours in places. Now as this storm moves slowly northward, it is dumping a lot of that rain. And that could be one of the major problems.
[11:50:00] There will of course be very high winds as well but high storm surges, high surf. Here in Honolulu, listen, nearly a million people live
here. This place is also packed with dozens of hotels that are rammed with tourists from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, all over the world. And here
we could see flooding.
Now, the path of the hurricane is moving north right now. It is going to move west at some point. But when is the big question. The sooner it
veers west, the better for everybody concerned. We are not expecting an actual landfall of the eye of the hurricane at the moment, but it is going
to apparently come dangerously close -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Nick's on the story for you. And stick with CNN, the more we get on that, of course, we will bring that to you. Hurricane lane is what
we are talking about there. Thanks.
We came into this part of the show looking at some incredible scientific work in space, as Isaac Newton once said, such discoveries come from
standing on the shoulders of giants. Giants like our teachers. So, in our parting shots for you tonight. We meet one inspiring teacher who is
changing the lives of young people in one of the U.K.'s poorest areas. Her incredible work has been recognized abroad by the United Arab Emirates
where the show is normally based, of course. It's awarded her $1 million. And this year's global teacher prize. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDRIA ZAFIRAKOU, TEXTILE TEACHER, ALPERTON COMMUNITY SCHOOL: Hello, welcome to Alperton Community School. My name is Andria Zafirakou. I'm an
art and textiles teacher. And today we are working with our year nine textile students. It's really exciting to see what ideas they're coming up
with.
And I love this text. I mean that's powerful. That's going to be quite strong. Isn't it?
This is one you're that you're going to experiment on
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CHILD: Yes. I'm going to put more on.
ZAFIRAKOU: Perfect.
(voice-over): At the moment my school has over 1,400 students here.
(on camera): Oh, fantastic, OK.
(voice-over): So, some of the them for example live in shared houses, so they will have approximately 12 families living in one house. So, one
family to a room. When we go home, they're careers, so they will pick up their brothers and sisters, and then go home, cook, clean. Look after
their parents, their grandparents.
(on camera): All my fingers are doing is guiding it.
(voice-over): Some of our children come to school very hungry. They don't have coats. It's, it's absolutely devastating.
(on camera): We notice that our students who are making more progress and really engaging with the lessons and feeling more confident and really
proud of their work when they could connect to it. For our Asian students, we showed them and taught them about Rangoli designs, where they come. And
for our students who follow Islam, we were working with the designers and looking at the Islamic patterns, which are beautifully designed.
And by tapping into their cultures, they felt a sense of pride. And they engaged quickly with their work. So, I think it's looking at how can you
can problem-solve? How can you create an environment where you know the children will succeed?
My parents are migrants to this country. And so, experiencing another language, and engaging in with a British culture and learning about the
British culture, as well holding on to my own culture, that's the similarities that we have, and I think that's beautiful. I wasn't aware of
the Varkey Foundation's global teacher prize before this year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 2018 winner of the global teacher prize.
ZAFIRAKOU: Come March the 18th I sat on that platform and I heard my name being called out. And I can't tell you how that felt. It's just been the
most powerful, life transforming moment in my life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Amazing. And congratulations from all of us for that.
[11:55:00] Now a moment that can teach us all from Australia, where we took you before for some political turmoil. We can take you for a heartwarming
moment. Superstar Pink stopped right in middle of her concert in Brisbane, to comfort a grieving fan, 14-year-old Leah Murphy passed the singer a sign
she had been holding. I just lost my beautiful mum. I'd like -- or I would love a hug. Once Pink read it, she climbed off the stage and then
gave Leah a big, warm embrace. Leah's mum had planned to go to one of Pink's concerts in Australia, but she passed away before she got the
chance. A relative of the girl says believes that Leah's mum sent her daughter a hug from heaven.
I'm Becky Anderson that was CONNECT THE WORLD, thank you for watching.
END
