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SDF Commanders Expect Victory Within Days; Haiti Hospital Struggles After Violent Protest; U.S. Sends More Humanitarian Aid To Colombian Border; Challenges Mount To Trump's Emergency Declaration; Acting U.S. Defense Secy. To Find Funding For Border Wall; Top Dems Emergency Declaration Shreds The Constitution; Nauert Withdraws From Consideration As U.N. Ambassador; U.S. Landowners Fear They'll Lose In Border Wall Battle; Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Receives Lavish Welcome In Pakistan; Pregnant Women Risk Their Lives To Bring The World Tea. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired February 17, 2019 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:00] BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me Becky Anderson live from Abu
Dhabi. We begin this hour on one of serious many battlefields, one now under intense scrutiny where U.S. allied opposition forces tell CNN they
expect victory against the last tiny ISIS-held enclave within days.
Now, this is U.S. President Donald Trump takes to Twitter to issue a stark warning to his European allies saying, take back your captured ISIS
fighters or else the U.S. will force to release them and they will probably -- and I quote -- permeate Europe and just the compound tensions me once
rock-solid transatlantic relationship.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence once again (INAUDIBLE) European allies for not withdrawing from the nuclear deal with Iran. This at a key annual
security gathering in Munich. Well, in a moment, we'll hear from our international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson who is at that security
meeting in Germany and Fred Pleitgen who is in Tehran. But first, let's head to eastern Syria where CNN's Senior International Correspondent Ben
Wedeman is standing by. What's the latest there, Ben?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The latest, Becky, is that the small enclave is really small now occupied by ISIS. According to
senior Syrian democratic forces officials, it is now 700 by 700 meters. They say there are about a thousand people inside. That includes Isis
fighters as well as civilians. Some of the civilians they say are being used as human shields.
Now, we have heard yesterday from the commander who is running the entire operation that it's just a few days before victory is announced. And it
does appear from the front that the end is at hand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN: In its dying days, ISIS fights to the bitter end. The small remote otherwise unremarkable Syrian town of Baghuz Al-Fawqani on the banks
of Euphrates River where it is now finally cornered reduced to pinprick shadow of its former self by a combination of Kurdish and Arab soldiers
backed by U.S., British, and French special forces and unrelenting coalition airstrikes captured in this exclusive video shot by freelance
cameraman Gabriel Shaim.
It has been hard going with repeated ISIS counter-attacks using their usual tactics, booby-traps, suicide car bombs, and human shields. And now, at
the end, after years of war, ISIS's foes have scores to settle.
Syrian democratic forces commander Havas Simko has fought ISIS known here as Daesh across northern Syria.
Daesh is finished, he says. We're avenging our martyrs. It's black banner now in his hands. The battle like the bombing continues around the clock.
These Arab tribal fighters preparing to take open ground on the edge of town. The commander gives the final orders before they move out.
An armored bulldozers are designed to take the impact of improvised explosive devices leads the way and the troops follow. Flares illuminate
the skies over Baghuz. The sounds of battle echo in the distance. The final battle is in its final days.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN: And just a reminder, however, that the war against ISIS is not over. There are sleeper cells throughout this part of Syria and also in
Iraq just yesterday morning at 10:00. Not far from where I am standing, two men on motorcycles attacked a four-wheel drive belonging to the Syrian
democratic forces killing two of their personnel. What we have heard time and time again from commanders on the ground is that we're ending one stage
in the war against ISIS and another is about to begin. Becky?
[10:05:09] ANDERSON: Well, Ben, as this stage enters its final hours or days, the future for many foreign fighters if they still exist or at least
their wives and children now sort of front and center in many capitals around Europe and beyond. What's the situation for those who have left
that caliphate and now in camps around the region?
WEDEMAN: Well, they're approximately 800 foreign fighters in the custody of the Syrian Democratic Forces. They come from around the world that a
significant proportion of them come from Western Europe. In addition to that, there are thousands of women and children families of those foreign
fighters in a separate camp just to the north of here. And the question is what is going to be done with them.
It's a serious burden on the Kurdish authorities in this part of the country to keep them. They would like the countries they come back -- they
come from to take them back. But many countries for instance, the United Kingdom has made it clear that it is not eager to bring them home even
though they are citizens of those countries but they came here to join a political entity that was dedicated to the destruction of the West.
Now, we heard President Trump or we saw President Trump and these tweets saying that the United States will release these people if the countries of
Europe don't take them back. It's important to stress, however, that they are not in the custody of the United States and the United States,
therefore, it cannot be in the position to release them.
An additional worry here is that in the event of some sort of Turkish incursion or invasion of northeastern Syria, the Kurdish or Syrian
Democratic Forces simply will be in a position to keep these people under detention and there's a very good chance that they well -- may well be able
to escape, possibly eventually getting back to Europe or possibly joining the tens of thousands of ISIS fighters who continue to be on the loose in
Syria and Iraq. Becky?
ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman, is eastern Syria. Ben, thank you. Nic Robertson is in Munich where America's Middle East policy remains firmly in the
spotlight thousands of miles away from where you are, Nick, specifically in Syria and in Iraq, less than a week after another gathering in Poland, the
meeting in Warsaw last week ostensibly about peace and security in the Middle East as well.
Nick, Donald Trump telling us while European allies by Twitter to take back your fighters or they will permeate your borders. The Vice President is
chastising those same Europeans at this meeting where you are about their position with regard to Iraq. It all comes across as rather frosty when
you consider relations between Europe and the U.S. President, correct? What's going on?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, very correct. I mean, if you listen to that very pregnant pause where Mike Pence when he began his
speech, Vice President Mike Pence began his speech to the delegates here and you're talking about presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers,
defense ministers, all sorts of different leaders here, when he said he brought greetings from President Trump, there was a stony silence. Compare
and contrast with the round of applause, several rounds of applause that the previous incumbent at the vice presidency in the United States Joe
Biden got here speaking a few hours after Mike Pence. It was a real contrast.
So yes absolutely frosty you know, towards President Trump. But frostiness also delivered today from Iran's Foreign Minister towards Mike Pence and
some of his comments about Iran, pushing back on his -- Pence's accusations that Iran is anti-Semitic, pushing back on the United States call for
Britain, France, and Germany to pull out of the international nuclear agreement. But he also had criticism for Germany, France, and Britain too.
The Iranian Foreign Minister is saying that they had to do more to support this deal. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF, FOREIGN MINISTER, IRAN: Europe needs to be willing to get wet if it wants to swim against the dangerous tide of U.S.
unilateralism. While we have shown our desire for engagement, we don't depend on others for our security, stability, prosperity, or progress.
That is we solely, solely depend on our own people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[10:10:17] ROBERTSON: No boring moments here at the Munich Security Conference, Becky. The biggest U.S. delegation in its history, has been
going 55 years, 53 Congress men and women all came here. But that absolute sort of yin and yang on U.S. foreign policy or possible U.S. foreign policy
between Biden and Pence really I guess had everyone wondering now who's going to win the election in 2020.
ANDERSON: Yes, fascinating. Nic, as you mentioned, there was this really awkward moment at the Munich conference. I want to let our viewers
actually hear the reception that U.S. Vice President Mike Pence got when he told the room that the U.S. president send his greetings to them. Viewers,
have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES: I bring greetings from the 45th president of the United States of America President Donald Trump. Last
August --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: One has to assume there was a sort of pause for applause within the script that the Vice President had he paused and there was no applause.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: He did and there wasn't. And it was probably perhaps bad speech writing or bad prompting to allow a pause. You know, if you -- if
you understand your audience here. This is an audience that is steeped in the detail of foreign policy, defense policy of what's happening in Syria,
what's happening in Iran, what's happening in their own neighborhood NATO.
You had just speaking before Vice President Mike Pence, you had Angela Merkel who also the German Chancellor, her country hosting this of course
here, you know, pushing back on some of -- some of the criticism coming from the United States. So the mood if you will, was set against Pence.
But some of the things that he had to say, you know, calling on NATO again to spend two percent of his defense spending, two percent of its GDP on
defense spending, things that these leaders gathered here have heard before. But to imply that President Trump had helped get the commitments
that these leaders have given that they had given in 2013 at a NATO summit in Wales really to this audience here, this is a discerning audience. It's
not an audience that doesn't understand the detail.
So Pence was really in some ways missing perhaps his intended target with some of the things that he said.
ANDERSON: CNN's Fred Pleitgen is live from the capital in Tehran -- Nic, thank you -- that meeting then in Warsaw a circus according to Iran. The
meeting in Munich addressed by the Iranian Foreign Minister sounding somewhat frustrated with what he has heard. There this frosty atmosphere
quite frankly though between the U.S. and the Europeans gathered won't be doing the Iranians any harm at all, will it?
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh you're absolutely right, Becky. And I think one of the things the Iranians have
been saying for quite a while as they want the Europeans to do more to keep the nuclear agreement alive. And I think one of the big problems that the
Iranians have had for a while with the Europeans is on the one hand, the Europeans are saying that yes they want to keep the deal alive, yes they
want to do business with Iran, but the big problem is of course, they can't force their multinational companies to do business with Iran.
And a lot of those companies, if they do business with the U.S., then they have a lot of trouble trying to come over here to Iran and possibly face
sanctions from the United State. That goes for many sectors. We know that the sanctions have been put in place by the Trump administration, so far
have already had a huge effect on the economy.
One of the sectors that was supposed to be completely exempt is the medical sector and yet these sanctions even there seem to have had a chilling
effect that certainly is having reverberations in the Iranian medical sector. Here what we learned.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN: When Dr. Shahriyar Askari visits his patients in the intensive care unit at Gandhi Hospital in Tehran, he faces two challenges.
Diagnosing their illnesses and then somehow finding a way to get the medicine they need.
Unfortunately, he says, since the sanctions hit us, we've been having problems getting special medications for instance for chemotherapy and
other illnesses. But since our policy is to give patients everything they need, we do our best to supply them. So this means we have to work double
duty.
Hospital staff say that double duty even involves buying drugs and parts for medical devices on the black market at huge additional costs. When
President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the nuclear agreement with Iran, America also hits Tehran with crippling sanctions.
The U.S. claims the medical sector is exempt from the sanctions. A State Department spokesperson telling CNN "the United States maintains broad
authorizations that allow for the sale of agricultural commodities, food medicine, and medical devices by U.S. persons or from the United States to
Iran. But doctors in Iran say the reality is different with international medical companies unwilling to do business with Iran, afraid they might
face backlash from the U.S.
The head of the Gandhi Hospital says some medications have become impossible to obtain even on the black market with severe consequences.
[10:15:51] HASSAN BANI ASAD, MANAGING DIRECTOR, GANDHI HOSPITAL: We have the procedures but we don't have the instruments. And it's very difficult
for patients and maybe lead to death for some patients.
PLEITGEN: Back in the ICU, Dr. Askari is checking on a patient with a heart condition. (INAUDIBLE) doesn't speak much English but she did want
to convey a message.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why we have sanctions? Why?
PLEITGEN: Instead of asking why, the staff at this and other Iranian hospitals every day ask themselves how they'll be able to supply their
patients with the treatment they need.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN: So you can see, Becky, some severe consequences for a lot of patients. And we also have to know that the hospital we visited, it's
certainly one of the best funded in Tehran and actually quite a luxurious institution, even they are having trouble by supplying their patients with
what they need. And the Iranian economy is trying to also manufacture drugs. They put a big drug sector themselves, actually. It's those
specialized medicines and those specialized machines that currently are quite a problem for a lot of patients here in Iran, Becky.
ANDERSON: Fred in Tehran for you, Ben Wedeman is in eastern Syria, and Nic Robertson at the Munich Security Conference, to all of you, we appreciate
it. Thank you. Still, to come, viewers, no medicine, no equipment, till now besieged by riots. We are live in the Haitian capital of Port-aux-
Prince to see other countries deadly violence is only making things worse for this one hospital.
Plus, more aid arrives at the Venezuelan border, but President Maduro still won't allow into the country. Now, the opposition is calling on volunteers
to help.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:20:00] ANDERSON: Well, it's 7:20 in UAE. This is CONNECT THE WORLD from your Middle East broadcasting hub here. Welcome back. We are
monitoring two major humanitarian stories for this hour. I'm going to update you on the latest in the political tug-of-war over aid to Venezuela
momentarily. But first let me get you to the Caribbean nation of Haiti where the Prime Minister has called for unity and promised to tackle
corruption.
Now, this is the first time we've heard from him since deadly demonstrations began ten days ago. Calm seems to have descended on the
streets at least for now. Protesters have demanded that he and the president step down. Our Senior International Correspondent Sam Kiley is
on the ground for us. And Sam, it might be relatively calm on the streets, but behind the scene scenes, as I understand, things are pretty desperate.
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Very desperate indeed, Becky. And this really -- the riots that we saw over the last ten days
which came to an end, possibly a lull about 36 hours ago were devastating to the country and they were response to what the opposition here is saying
has been decades really of corruption that have come to the head over the last two years and really vividly thrown into light after a government
report in to the subsidies coming from Venezuela in the form of oil revealed a devastating level of corruption. That's what ignited these
riots.
But these riots have also meant that ordinary people have been terribly isolated effectively besieged often in their homes and in the case that we
demonstrate right now actually in the biggest hospital here in Port-Au- Prince, the capital. This is what we found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KILEY: This is the road to the capital's biggest hospital. More than a week of rioting has left it desolate. Its grounds are home to livestock.
Protests mark the second anniversary of Jovenel Moise's presidency with demands across Haiti that he stepped down.
Dr. Joseph tells me that most of the patients, hundreds of them have fled. It's easy to see why. This is your intensive care unit?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
KILEY: We've got nothing. You really have nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing.
KILEY: There's no machinery, there's no -- there's one oxygen.
The doctor tells me that the hospital was crippled by shortages before the riots. Now it's also short of patience. This is the State University
Hospital of Haiti and it's been cut off from the city by riots. There's no food here or water, no medicines either.
This is Gilem. He was getting drugs, now he's just stuck here the doctor says. Next to him is Madame Sanvil. Her catheter drains into a washbowl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are blocked. We don't have drugs because all the areas is blocked. This is why we exist. It's the reason why you can do
what you have to do. It's like you don't exist.
KILEY: And when already poor people feel that their very existence is doubted by their leaders, they're likely to try to prove otherwise.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KILEY: Now, the opposition, Becky, are calling for more demonstrations. Over the next hour or two we'll be able to see whether or not they're able
to galvanize the population back onto the streets. Because it is the population ultimately who've been suffering mostly as obvious from that
report from these very riots. Becky?
ANDERSON: And Sam, aside from trying to galvanize people back onto the streets in protest, what else is the opposition proposing to do at this
point?
KILEY: Well, last night, the prime minister tried to reach out to the opposition, promised an investigation into this oil corruption scandal and
much more widely to prosecute and name people behind corruption scandals.
Now that may be enough temporarily for at least the population on the ground, but Haiti's opposition, of course, sees this as an opportunity that
can't be lost. They need to maintain this public pressure to try to knock over the government that they see as deeply inefficient and corrupt.
But ultimately, this is a systemic problem. It doesn't really matter who rules Haiti at the moment when you've got the International Monetary Fund
forcing reforms on Haiti that are almost inevitably going to lead to civil unrest.
If you float the currency, remove fuel subsidies which is highly controversial last year and provoke violence, this is the sort of thing
that's going to go on. So it's going to be a very tough job to govern this country whoever wins.
[10:25:37] ANDERSON: Sam Kiley, is in Haiti for you. Sam, thank you. Well, another round of humanitarian aid has arrived at the Venezuelan
border for the millions of people in desperate need there of basic necessities. A cargo plane carrying food and hygiene kits arrived in
neighboring Colombia on Saturday.
Nicolas Maduro, the president in Venezuela has rejected all aid saying his people are not beggars. The opposition leader and self-declared interim
president Juan Guaido is urging supporters to bring the shipments into the country. CNN's Nick Valencia has more from the Colombian side of the
border.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These supplies here are part of the U.S.-led humanitarian mission to help those affected by the crisis in
Venezuela. These items for the most part arrive February 8th and are still sitting here on the border Venezuela pre-positioned in Colombia. Nicolas
Maduro is not allowing them in, not allowing his people to get help.
The U.S. is still forging on and on Saturday three more C17s carrying basic goods, commodities that could feed up to 3,500 children and 25,000 adults
arrived on the border here. Now, things like rice, beans, lentils are basic goods that you could find in an everyday supermarket but not right
now in the current conditions of Venezuela. These are some high-energy biscuits that are also intended to help the children.
We're hearing terrible reports of children starving in the country. Sanitary napkins, things like that, hygiene kits to help those that are
currently suffering. This aid has been called politicized by the Maduro regime. His deputy going so far as to say that these items contain
carcinogens. It was earlier that I spoke to U.S. State Department Julie Chung who's part of this humanitarian mission and I asked her if there's
any concern that this humanitarian aid might provoke Nicolas Maduro to doing something drastic.
She says that the United States isn't the one politicizing the crisis. That's on the Maduro regime. Nick Valencia CNN reporting on the Colombia-
Venezuela border.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD, I'm Becky Anderson for you. Coming up, challenges to the U.S. President's emergency declaration mount,
the Trump administration presses ahead with its border wall plans. Where the fight goes from here and where the U.S. President is now?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:31:38] ANDERSON: You're watching CNN. This is CONNECT THE WORLD, with me, Becky Anderson. Doing what we say on the tin. It's just after how
past 7:00 in the UAE.
A wall of opposition to U.S. President Trump's declaration of a national emergency. And not just from Democrats, it has to be said, but spritely
growing backlash and looming court challenges, the administration is pressing ahead with its border wall plans.
The acting U.S. defense chief must now decide which military projects to cut and divert that money to border wall construction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK SHANAHAN, UNITED STATES ACTING SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We always anticipated that this will create a lot of attention. And since money is
potentially -- could be redirected, it's going to -- you can imagine the concern this generates. So very deliberately, we have not made any
decisions.
We've identified the steps we would take to make those decisions. This is -- this is the important part of that. We laid that out so we can do it
quickly. We don't want to fumble through this process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, it's unclear how far along the process will get as lawsuits do begin to stock up and House Democrats are promising action. I
want to bring in our political analyst who's a regular guest on this show. Julian Zelizer is joining us out of New York to sort some of this out for
me.
And I guess the first question is simply this. For those of our viewers who will be confused by what is a most unconventional state of emergency.
Can you explain what's going on here?
JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, presidents throughout American history have used emergency power usually in times of crisis like some kind
of military threat. And that allows them to do things such as authorizing troops to be used in a certain way or mobilizing certain pots of money
without having Congress be part of that conversation.
This is unusual in that there is no crisis. So, the president is invoking those powers for something he is essentially manufactured for political
purposes, and so that makes this very different than what we have seen before.
ANDESON: Let's be very clear. The President believes there is a crisis on the border, Julian, correct?
ZELIZER: The President believes there is a crisis or he says there is a crisis, but he's found very little support. There is no military strike,
and even what he argues is this happening at the border, doesn't have confirmation even from government sources in his own administration.
ANDERSON: Since he declared the national emergency on the border, and I was just having a look back at what the U.S. president's been up to, he has
golfed twice. He's tweeted about his approval ratings, he has called for retribution against "Saturday Night Live" calling the satirical show, the
real collusion.
And just when you thought you might have exhausted himself, he has in the past couple of hours tweeted, the rigged and corrupt media is the enemy of
the people, exclamation mark.
This is a busy president, but not busy doing what you might expect him to be doing, Julian, during a national emergency.
[10:35:05] ZELIZER: Well, that's exactly right. He's not exactly a wartime president who's holed up in the Oval Office trying to figure out
how to respond to a situation. He's going about his normal business from golfing to tweeting. And again, remember, his invoking this, and he admits
this comes after his inability in several rounds of budget negotiations with Congress to get the funding for the wall that he wanted. And that's
why he's turning to this power as a new path. And that's why it's going to be challenged in the courts.
ANDERSON: Yes. So, how serious could this challenge be? Can Democrats derail this funding?
ZELIZER: Possibly. It will be challenged both in the courts and probably in Congress. The House can pass a resolution revoking the power, so can
the Senate. But the president can then veto that, which means you would need a lot of Republican support to override the veto that's not going to
happen.
In the courts, the challenge is more possible. This is going to be involving several lawsuits not simply about his using emergency power, but
about the environmental effects of this wall, about the removal of Native American, peoples who are living in this area. And there's a lot more
opportunity that the courts might stifle this. We'll see. Courts are often though reluctant to tamper with the power of the president.
ANDERSON: U.S. Democrat Adam Schiff had this to say just a little earlier on CNN. "It's going to be a real test for my GOP colleagues," and those
that, of course, the Republicans in Congress, "and their devotion to the institution if we giveaway if we surrender the power of the purse, which is
our most important power, there will be little check and no balance left."|
The U.S. president does though still have support from a largest constituency for this border wall, doesn't he? And he has been tweeting
just in the past couple of hours about his approval ratings which currently -- I'm not looking as bad as they might.
ZELIZER: Most Republican voters still support the wall. Most Republican voters still support President Trump. And most Republicans in Congress
even if they are grumbling about how he is using power to do this, what a future Democratic president might do with the same power, they're not doing
anything about it.
Even Senator McConnell, the Senate majority leader, did a total about-face. A few weeks ago, he was saying don't do this, he was telling the president
it's not the right thing. And then, he supported it.
So, the Republican Party as we see in every stage of the presidency pretty much is standing behind President Trump and that's what emboldens him to
move forward with these plans.
The only thing that can stop him as we saw with the government shutdown was the Democratic Congress or the Democratic House of Representatives. But
that might not be sufficient for this use of presidential power.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. President Trump's pick for U.N. Ambassador, Heather Nauert, is bowing out. It follows word that the State Department
spokeswoman employed a nanny who couldn't legally work -- as I understand it, in the U.S.
The former Fox News host isn't expected to return to her current job at the State Department either. Will this be another personal blow for the U.S.
president? And are there any other names at present in the running for that position?
ZELIZER: Well, it's a blow. He doesn't seem to mind these kinds of failures or problems that he encounters. This was one of the most unusual
picks for U.N. ambassador. Usually, it's staffed by politicians or people with deep experience in foreign policy like Richard Holbrooke.
This was a television host who had a job in the administration who was going to take this on. So, it's not a surprise there was opposition and
then this issue with, with the -- with the taxing of a domestic employee came up as well.
I think he might go for someone more traditional, there is people being circulated from the Bush administration. And the administration might take
an easy path this time and pick a more traditional figure. But this embodies some of the problems this president has had with personnel and
turnover and misguided appointments since day one.
ANDERSON: Julian, always a pleasure. You are a regular guest on this show this time of the week and your analysis and insight invaluable to our
viewers. Thank you.
[10:40:04] ZELIZER: Thank you.
ANDERSON: And Julian and I have been talking this proposed wall unwelcome to many private landowners. It has to be said along the border like the
operators of a butterfly conservation center, just north of the Rio Grande. They vow to fight the proposed barrier. Saying, it would cut into their
property. CNN's Ed Lavendera is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Along a quiet stretch of the Rio Grande in South Texas, there's a place that's just home to butterflies. Hundreds
of different species. And Marianna Wright has spent the last two years fighting to keep President Trump's border wall from cutting through the 100
acres of the national butterfly center in Mission, Texas.
MARIANNA WRIGHT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL BUTTERFLY CENTER: Here, Sylvia, where they just came in, put all these stakes out. They'll be
starting on this federal piece of land --
LAVANDERA: Last year, Congress approved the construction of 33 miles of new border barrier in the Rio Grande Valley. And construction is about to
begin in the coming weeks.
Part of the wall was supposed to cut right through the butterfly center. Leaving some of the property south of the border wall and some north. The
government used eminent domain to seize the necessary land to build the wall much to the dismay of the center's executive director.
WRIGHT: They're seizing the land of taxpaying citizens and pushing the boundaries of Mexico north of the Rio Grande River. Something General
Santa Anna was never able to do. Trump is making America smaller, not greater.
LAVANDERA: But the congressional spending bill offered a last-minute reprieve to the butterfly center and four other specific locations. For
now, no border wall in the butterfly center. But wall will come right up to their property lines and leave a quarter-mile stretch of the center's
property wide open.
But butterfly center officials, say they're worried the Trump administration will use the national emergency declaration to keep trying
to close the gap. And they're worried about what it's doing to the other landowners who haven't been spared.
WRIGHT: This is a shame. This is a national disgrace. And the idea that it's going to happen and produce none of the purported benefit. I mean,
that's like going and buying a new car and driving it into a building. Why would you do that?
LAVANDERA: The butterfly center's legal battles paint a poignant picture of what lies ahead. The congressional spending bill compromise allocates
nearly $1.4 billion to construct another 55 miles of border barrier in various locations in the Rio Grande Valley.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've got to get rid of drugs and gangs and people, it's an invasion. We have an invasion of drugs
and criminals coming into our country. That we stopped but it's very hard to stop. With a wall, it would be very easy.
LAVANDERA: Much of this new construction will be on private property, which means the federal government will likely have to sue landowners to
acquire the land. Down the road from the national butterfly center, Fred Cavazos and his family are still trying to stop the construction of the
looming barrier.
FRED CAVASOS, RESIDENT, MISSION, TEXAS: And we've had this property for all our lives.
LAVANDERA: Cavazos and his family owns' 70 acres that will be left south of the border barrier -- in a no-man's land. They've been tied up in
eminent domain litigation, but are losing hope they'll stop the wall from being built starting in the next few weeks.
So, you're running out of time.
CAVASOS: Yes, what can you do if you can't fight the government? We're trying -- we're now -- that we're trying to, to stop them and start a
little, but we can't -- we can't stop the government. They'll do what they want to do.
LAVANDERA: So, the Rio Grande Valley braces for what most residents here say is the unwelcome wall. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Mission, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, the American president no stranger to a "Me against the world approached." Then, and he seems pretty happy to wear that has -- had
to elsewhere, as well becoming the shield in chief for some say for Saudi Arabia's crown prince.
But with others in the West not buying into it, what's the future king to do? Well, this, turn east. Moments ago in Pakistan, the crown prince
landing and finding an all-out extravaganza. Red carpets, billboards, fighter jets, even thousands of welcoming pigeons, apparently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Pakistan, putting on an all-out no-expense-spared welcome for Saudi Arabia's all-powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. They can't
really afford it, but they can't really afford not to, either. MBS's billions, the financial Band-Aid that's keeping Pakistan's shaky finances
together. Without his support, it could all go wrong.
Remember though, Pakistan often sends soldiers to Saudi's wars but is not only bringing cash. The crown prince's delegation will reportedly number
more than a thousand people, including other members of the royal family, being a businessman and key government ministers.
Later in the week, the controversial prince and everyone with him heading off to two powerhouses. First India, then onto China, both massive global
markets. The Saudis then, clearly knocking on the doors in the east as one closes in the west. That's perhaps because there is one thing we don't
expect much of on this trip, questions. Like questions about his handling of the murder of the Saudi dissident, Jamal Khashoggi.
For cash strapped, Pakistan, this royal visit is all about business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[10:45:50] ANDERSON: This is CONNECT THE WORLD, live from Abu Dhabi. Coming up, India earns hundreds of millions of dollars of -- on tea each
year. But it comes at a hidden cost. Pregnant women risking their lives just to make ends meet. And we'll hear their stories up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Tea, big business in India. Earning the country hundreds of million dollars every year. But as Kristie Lu Stout reports, pregnant
women are risking their lives to bring that tea to the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tucked away in the northeastern tip of India are the lush green hills of Assam State. More than half of the
country's tea leaves are grown in plantations here. But the bright visitors hide a dark reality.
Some female tea pickers get pregnant while working and feel that they have to stay in the plantations until their full term. Two of them spoke to CNN
on condition of anonymity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We receive no help from anywhere. There is no facility in the tea garden hospital for even a simple fever.
LU STOUT: Temporary tea pickers who spoke to CNN, said they collect leaves nine hours a day, six days a week.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to work from 7:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. I have to pluck 24 kilos of leaves in a day. If I meet the target each day, only
then, I receive my daily wages.
LU STOUT: The women say, they get less money if they don't fill up their baskets. The tea industry, says it ensures that tea sold internationally
meets the highest standards of health and labor protections by working with independent accrediting agencies. At a two unaccredited plantations that
CNN visited, workers complain to CNN of a lack of medical care.
[10:50:00] JAYSHREE SATPUTE, HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER, INDIA: Assam has above 1.5 million key plantation workers. More than 70 percent of this workforce
are women. These women are been working in the slave-like conditions for over decades.
LU STOUT: Since 2005 the Indian government has introduced programs provide free prenatal care, tests, and births in public hospitals helping many
people across the country. But Assam State still has a high maternal death rate. 237 women die per 100,000 births, more than in any other state in
India. The state health director, says the death rate is improving and he hopes things will continue to get better as they introduce new public-
private partnerships with the plantations.
J.V.N. SUBRAMANYAN, STATE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HEALTH MISSION, ASSAM STATE: We are moving into the tea gardens with our mobile medical units, so we
will -- we will expand into the tea gardens because the land belongs to the tea garden owner or the tea garden company, but we are -- we are now -- we
are -- we want to get into these tea garden areas drastically, so that, finally the human rights are taken care of.
LU STOUT: For now, though many women don't have access to or are not aware of what services should be available to them, they work until the later
stages of pregnancy and sometimes give birth in the fields.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have fear, but I can't miss my work. Because if I miss my work, I will not get any help from the tea garden.
LU STOUT: The women are afraid of what might happen. But just can't afford to miss out on a full day's pay. Kristie Lu Stout, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, this story is part of our ongoing series, "AS EQUALS". Covering gender inequality wherever it happens in the world. And you can
read more in depth on this story or check out the rest of the year series online at cnn.com.
Well, shocking reporting. Let's all take a moment to just reflect somewhat on that. I'm going to take a very short break. Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Well, it's almost time to call it a night but not quite yet. Before we leave you we wanted to show you something that the American president
thinks is totally not funny. And it's kind of tired on his fake news. He didn't even stop there. So unfunny, was it? Apparently, provoking this
tweet to all caps. So, what's getting under his skin so badly? What could it be?
Well, it's being made funnel from one of America's most popular shows, "Saturday Night Live" by no other than Mr. Alec Baldwin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[10:54:45] ALEC BALDWIN, CAST MEMBER, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: Thank you very much, everybody. I'm here to declare a very urgent important national
emergency. So, let's cut to the chase folks, we need war, OK? I'm basically taking military money so I can has wall. So, I'm going to sign
these papers for emergency. And then, I'll immediately be sued, then ruling will not go with my favor. And then, end up in the Supreme Court,
and then, I'll call my buddy, Kavanaugh. And I'll say it's time to repay the Donny. And he'll say, 'new phone, who this?'
Everything in the Mueller report will be released, crumbling in my house of cards, and I could just plead insanity, and do a few months of the puzzle
factory. And my personal hell of playing president will finally be over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: "Saturday Night Live" for you. When in the age of emergencies, what is more urgent, Donald Trump's national emergency or the global
emergency of climate change? That more on the Facebook page facebook.com/cnnconnect.
I'm Becky Anderson. That was CONNECT THE WORLD from the team working with us here. It is a very good evening. Thank you for watching, same time
tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
