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U.K. Parliament is Suspended amid Brexit Chaos; Bahamian Families Retain Hope of Finding Loved Ones; Six-Year Old Spends Savings on Food for Dorian Evacuees; U.S. Feared Spy Could Be Exposed by President Trump; Saudi Aramco Ready for IPO; Netanyahu Makes Pledge for New Annexation. Aired 11a- 12p ET

Aired September 10, 2019 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: If they want to delay Brexit yet again.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Parliament's final punch. Another blow to the British prime minister's plans just before he shuts up shop.

Is Boris Johnson out of Brexit ideas?

This hour, we're live in London and in Brussels for you.

Also tonight --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope they find him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): As the recovery and rebuilding efforts ramp up, people in the Bahamas hold out hope after Hurricane Dorian's destruction.

And an IPO for the ages?

Saudi Aramco hints its public offering could be very soon. Later in the program, how the oil giant will make its mark on the markets.

Hello and welcome, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson, live from Abu Dhabi, where it's 7 o'clock in the evening. It's

4:00 pm in London. And the British prime minister's losing streak it seems goes on and on after he loses his sixth vote in Parliament in a row.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERCOW, SPEAKER, BRITISH HOUSE OF COMMONS: The ayes to the right, 293. The nos to the left, 46. The ayes have it. The ayes have it.

ANDERSON (voice-over): That sealed Boris Johnson's latest big loss, as lawmakers rejected his second run at trying to force a snap election in

Britain. And there's not much time to try again. Parliament's five-week suspension is now in effect, which many lawmakers still aren't happy about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

That all came as early on Monday a bill aimed at stopping a no deal Brexit, as it's known, was passed into law. Let's bring in Bianca Nobilo, who's

outside Number 10 for you, and Nina dos Santos ,who is in Brussels.

Bianca, explain if you will the significance of last night's mammoth session and what the likely scenarios are for Britain going forward.

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Yesterday was significant on so many levels. I can't help but feel that after those years of stasis

when it came to Brexit that we saw a reckoning yesterday.

Not only did the bill blocking Boris Johnson from pursuing a no deal Brexit without parliamentary approval get royal assent, meaning it's now law. If

he doesn't ask for the extension when he's asked to, he'll be defying the law and breaking it.

We also had parliamentary debates that will thwart the government asking for communications to be revealed between Boris Johnson's ministers and his

special advisers about anything to do with a no deal Brexit, so-called Operation Yellow Hammer.

Then we had the somewhat unexpected resignation of the famous Speaker, John Bercow, bellowing, "Order, order," in the chamber. Our international

viewers will know him well. That was another twist and turn in yesterday.

And then Boris Johnson, trying for the second time to obtain a snap election, failed again by a large margin. He needed two-thirds of the

House of Commons to support him.

All of those things are significant for different reasons. What it boils down to is the fact that Boris Johnson's options are becoming fewer and

fewer as the days go on. He can't have an election in the immediate future. He has promised that he will not extend the deadline of Britain

leaving the European Union.

Now a law exists to ask him to do that very thing. So it might mean that he would have to break the law if he was not to break his word.

Also the fact that the Speaker, who was an influential figure shaping this Brexit process in a hung Parliament, is going to be staying on until the

31st of October, that means his last two weeks in office, an opportunity that he might have to be even bolder than he's been before, will coincide

with two of the most dramatic weeks that we've seen.

As you and I can attest to, pretty much every week these days is dramatic.

ANDERSON: Boris Johnson, Nina, said he would be rather dead in a ditch than ask the European Union for an extension.

[11:05:00]

ANDERSON: Not mincing his words. But there is now a law in place which may force him to do so.

What is the mood in Brussels?

And will an extension be granted if, indeed, the prime minister in Britain asked for one?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR: These are the kinds of questions that I've been putting to E.U. diplomats the last 24 hours. One senior

E.U. diplomat I got the chance to spend an hour with to pick their brains over this subject couldn't elucidate me either. Largely because basically

the word on the street in Brussels is that a lot of these senior figures are scratching their heads.

There are three things they're interested in: what are the concrete proposals the U.K. is going to put on the table?

So far they haven't seen any, despite the fact that technical talks are still continuing and will resume tomorrow.

Also, will he actually ask for that extension, even if his hands are tied?

That again remains very much a moot point. The suggestion, that a British prime minister would defy his country's own laws. When I asked one

diplomat about that, they said, this is a contentious domestic issue. We'll leave that for the U.K. to answer.

What type of deal is the U.K. really after here?

We've had many diplomats say they've been approached to talk about potentially versions of the Canada-E.U. style agreement that the E.U. has,

albeit a lighter version. But they've had no paperwork to support that.

Then there's the suggestion, that appears to have been shot out of the water by Downing Street earlier today, that we could see Northern Ireland

remaining in the same E.U. customs arrangement, going back to a previous version one of Theresa May's withdrawal agreements.

That's something the E.U. Isn't keen to hear about. I want to talk about the fact also that the E.U. is now saying it's moving on. One E.U.

diplomat told me earlier today that in all of the discussions that they've had about the future of the E.U. recently, Brexit comes up on far, far

fewer occasions than it has done in the past.

Yesterday was a big day for the E.U. because they nominated their new college of commissioners. And among the college of commissioners, we saw

the trade position being given to a very interesting figure, an Irishman. He will be taking over the helm of that building the day after Brexit will

happen on October 31st.

She even suggested that Brexit might not happen after all. I want to see if we can play this little sound bite from her.

URSULA VAN DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: Yes, we are still in a difficult process but I keep saying that the Brexit, we never

want it. But we respect decisions that are taken by our British friends, by the United Kingdom.

The Brexit, should it happen, is not the end of something but it's the beginning of a future relationship. I want these relationship as it has

been in the past, in the future, to be a good relationship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: -- will be a good relationship going forward. But hold on. I want to get back to Bianca.

I want to pick up on something you said about the new trade commissioner. That's a really interesting point.

Before we get back to Brussels, you were up into the wee hours, watching events unfold in the Commons, events that basically we haven't witnessed

since the 17th century.

How surreal does all of this seem from your perspective?

NOBILO: You know what?

Even though I haven't had as long of a career as a political analyst as many, I did -- used to work there. And as a witness, as a citizen, as

somebody that used to work in that building, it's baffling. I don't recognize the place. That's a sentiment that's shared by many lawmakers,

if not all of them that I speak to.

It is almost impossible to describe how Parliament has transformed itself since the initial referendum result. We knew it was divided back then but

it seems to have unleashed these other currents, that even increased polarity in British politics.

Both Jeremy Corbyn, who is further to the left than the ordinary Labour Party leader, and Boris Johnson, whose strikingly and increasingly populist

tone and isolating more centrist members of his party, moving to the right.

Other smaller parties that seemed to be of little consequence over the last few years, having increased amounts of power, the constellations of how

it's all going to work being almost impossible to predict.

The fact that you had members of Parliament trying to stop the Speaker from getting out of his chair because they don't believe that Parliament should

be prorogued. They believe it should be sitting.

[11:10:00]

NOBILO: The idea that Parliament can't make up its mind about where their sovereignty, where democracy truly lies, Boris Johnson is arguing it lies

with the people. It lies with the result. Jeremy Corbyn saying it lies with Parliament.

That's what people do when they vote for lawmakers. They invest their democratic rights in them. All of this confusion and Parliament unable to

decide where the truth really lies, it's truly surreal, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes, there is this one outstanding question, isn't there, is there method in the prime minister's madness at this point?

We now have five weeks of a suspended Parliament and two weeks when they get back before October 31st, which is currently the deadline to work that

out.

Nina, I want to come back to you and pick up on something you had suggested earlier on. The E.U. has nominated its new trade commissioner. He's an

Irishman by the name of Phil Hogan. He would be the E.U.'s chief trade negotiator if and when free trade negotiations do commence between the E.U.

and the U.K. after Brexit.

Now he's a vocal Brexit critic, as they all are pretty much in the E.U. He claims the penny, though, is dropping for Boris Johnson.

Is this idea that the prime minister is prepared for a possible compromise at this point with the E.U. a view shared by others in Europe?

DOS SANTOS: Well, I can answer that question with a quote that I obtained earlier on this morning from a senior E.U. diplomat, who is privy to many

of these meetings and negotiations.

They said, more or less, the withdrawal agreement might change but we, as the E.U., have our red lines; that includes money, citizens and the peace

agreement in Northern Ireland. We're not going to jeopardize citizen's rights, we're not going to jeopardize the single market. And the Good

Friday agreement appears to be sacrosanct.

Also I often get asked in Brussels about how the Irish diaspora in the United States views the potential for the Good Friday peace agreement

coming under threat as a result of the -- suggested to the British prime minister has put forward as potential alternative arrangements to the Irish

backstop.

So what's really interesting here is that the E.U. is looking across the Atlantic to find out exactly how Congress is viewing how this issue over

the Irish backstop could be resolved.

I want to point out one thing that the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said about Phil Hogan. He said he's vociferous on the subject of Brexit and he

expects him to remain so.

So part of the real problem for all these Brexit negotiations has been that, from the E.U.'s point of view, the U.K. wants to throw the horse in

front of the cart, talk about the future relationship before settling the divorce settlement. Phil Hogan will be somebody who they'll have to deal

with to talk about that future trade relationship.

ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely fascinating. As if it couldn't get more complicated. Well, it has. Nina and Bianca, thank you.

In the Bahamas, people are facing a grim recovery effort, sifting through piles of rubble and tinder that used to be their homes. But a home, of

course, is more than four walls. And sadly many in the Bahamas have got that gutwrenching reality of returning home without their loved ones; 50

people now confirmed dead.

Many of the missing may never be found. And those found may never be identified. CNN's Paula Newton tells us families and volunteers are not

giving up hope.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For many survivors of Hurricane Dorian, the nightmare of this storm isn't over. They are

terrified of what they may face next. Winis Louisdor is frantic. She hasn't seen her cousin since Dorian

flattened Marsh Harbour more than a week ago. She says Leonard Fredlatte (ph) is a quiet, generous 33-year-old contractor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WINIS LOUISDOR, DORIAN SURVIVOR: I hope they find him. I hope so. He just had a son. We don't even know the baby's safe yet. I hope they find

him. I hope so. Because (INAUDIBLE) why he was swimming or what hit him (INAUDIBLE) broken arm, I don't know that's the reason why of course,

like, he can't swim no more because he dead, I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON (voice-over): Evacuated just a few days ago, Louisdor tells us it's been tough to even know where or how to start looking for her cousin.

For that reason, Vanessa Pritchard started dorianpeoplesearch.com with a handful of volunteers and her laptop. The list is a living document of the

missing and located and a place to start for so many.

[11:15:00]

VANESSA PRITCHARD, DORIANPEOPLESEARCH.COM: There's still people missing. We have to look at the timeline of where we are. How many days has it been

since Dorian passed over the Abacos, how many days has it been since Dorian sat over Grand Bahama for 40 straight hours?

And so that's -- you know, that's hard. That's really hard.

NEWTON (voice-over): And survivors are still coping with so much.

ANNE WILMORE, DORIAN SURVIVOR: Miranda needs to go to the doctor because she was having some back pains and she's six months' pregnant.

NEWTON (voice-over): Anne Wilmore in Marsh Harbour has so much on her mind, she hasn't even had time to report one of her relatives as missing,

let alone look for her. It's one of the reasons that getting an accurate number of those missing and feared dead has been difficult to come by.

And it adds to the agonizing administrative details now so frustrating survivors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (from captions): All passengers who don't have U.S. visas please proceed to disembark.

NEWTON (voice-over): In Freeport, dozens of desperate evacuees on a ferry bound for the U.S. were told to get off the boat as they didn't have visas.

U.S. Border and Customs Patrol says the ferry company should have coordinated with them and it wouldn't have happened. But it was too late

for so many -- Paula Newton, CNN, Nassau, Bahamas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: The operator of that ferry has now apologized, saying it regrets the, quote, "hardship and inconvenience" to the 119 people left behind.

The company says it was advised that all passengers needed to be cleared by immigration authorities in the Bahamian capital.

That apology comes as President Trump warns that people fleeing the devastation in the Bahamas need proper documentation to enter the United

States. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The Bahamas has some tremendous problems with people going to the Bahamas that weren't supposed to be there. I don't want to allow people

that weren't supposed to be in the Bahamas to come in to the United States, including some very bad people and some very bad gang members and some

very, very bad drug dealers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, 70,000 people have been left homeless on the islands. CNN's Patrick Oppmann is in Freeport in the Bahamas for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, Bahamian officials have said this is a dark and joyless time in the Bahamas. And they're speaking quite

literally. Power and water remain out here in Freeport and the entire island of Grand Bahama and in the Abaco Islands, both of the islands were

destroyed by this hurricane, by Hurricane Dorian.

Living conditions are pretty much impossible at this point. People are waiting hours for gasoline, hours for food, just trying to get by in the

sweltering heat and no indication yet when conditions will improve here.

The farthest you get here from Freeport to the places that were hardest hit, the less aid, tragically, there is. So 70,000 people in the Bahamas

are homeless. It's a devastating number, when you factor in this is a nation of about 500,000 people.

So a significant percentage of this nation, of the Bahamas has been left without any housing. That is why so many people are trying to flee the

Bahamas right now.

The United States says that people with the proper paperwork, with a passport who can show they don't have a criminal record will be able to

travel to the U.S. at least for a while. But there's a real concern among Bahamian officials these people leaving might never come back and they're

so vital to the recovery effort, to one day rebuilding what has been destroyed here.

So the Bahamian prime minister has said anybody who leaves will be welcomed back, no matter how long they're gone for. But at this point, looking at

all the devastation around us, it's a question of how many people that are right now leaving will ever come back -- Becky.

ANDERSON: CNN's Patrick Oppmann from Freeport in the Bahamas.

I want to get you a check of the weather with meteorologist -- I mean, President Trump, where the truth once again is looking cloudy. Last week,

Mr. Trump inaccurately claimed that the state of Alabama would be hit by Hurricane Dorian. Well, he still insists he was correct, despite

meteorologists saying otherwise.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration took to Twitter to contradict the president. Now "The New York Times" report says Commerce

Secretary Wilbur Ross threatened to fire top NOAA employees if the agency did not disavow that tweet. The Commerce Department is denying that story.

[11:20:00]

ANDERSON: Before we move on, I want to introduce you to 6-year-old Jermaine Bell from South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERMAINE BELL, 6-YEAR-OLD AID ORGANIZER: Free hot dogs. Free hot dogs.

ANDERSON (voice-over): This little legend tipped his piggy bank upside down, using the pennies he was saving for a trip to Disneyland to open a

food stand, serving hundreds of hot dogs to hurricane evacuees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Find out how you can help. Head to cnn.com/impact. Every bit counts, folks.

Still to come, what Russia is saying about a CNN report that the U.S. had a spy in Vladimir Putin's inner circle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAMMY ABRAHAM, CHELSEA STRIKER: Some people might not think we see it. But we do see it.

ANDERSON (voice-over): How racial abuse affects some of football's top players. CNN's "WORLD SPORT" tackles that topic up next.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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ANDERSON: You're watching CNN. This is CONNECT THE WORLD. It's 22 minutes past 7:00 in the UAE. I'm Becky Anderson. For those just joining

us you're more than welcome.

I want to get to an explosive story, that the U.S. pulled a highly placed Kremlin spy out of Russia because of fears that President Trump or his

aides mishandled classified intelligence that could have contributed to giving away the spy's identity.

The intelligence asset was said to be so close to Vladimir Putin that he could take pictures of documents on Mr. Putin's desk. Joining us now from

Moscow is CNN's Matthew Chance.

Russia, Matthew, dismissing this story, calling it, quote, "pulp fiction," which I guess is an improvement from the hackneyed accusation of fake news,

right?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. But it's the same kind of thing. Look, they're saying this is sensationalist,

it's not true. I think that underscores the sensitivity with which the Russians are viewing this revelation because even though it was a massive

coup for the U.S. international community, having someone placed so high placed in the hierarchy in Russia, right in the corridors of power in the

Kremlin, for the Russians, it is deeply embarrassing that there was somebody they trusted in their midst that was divulging this sensitive and

in many cases top secret information to handlers in the United States.

Understandably they don't want to say much about it. It is saying it's pulp fiction, nothing more than that. I will say this, though, that this

is taken very seriously in Russia. And, of course, Russia has a ruthless record of dealing with its traitors in the past. You don't have to go back

very far to see what they do.

[11:25:00]

CHANCE: Remember Sergei Skripal last year was poisoned with Novichok in Britain. In 2006, Alexander Litvinenko was also an intelligence operative

at one point was poisoned with that radioactive isotope polonium 210. So there must now be serious concerns about the security of this individual,

who is involved in this latest case.

ANDERSON: We did ask the White House for comment, thank you. They say CNN's reporting is not only incorrect, it has the potential to put lives in

danger.

The perspective from Moscow and the statement from the White House for you.

Let's get you up to speed on the other stories we're following for you now here on CNN on CONNECT THE WORLD.

In Australia, firefighters are battling the worst start to bushfire season on record, dubbing the devastation as an omen of the bad season to come.

Over 100 fires currently burning in the country's eastern states, scorching usually fire-resistant heritage rain forests. You can see them here, many

out of control.

As children around the world return to school, the United Nations is highlighting those who are not. Each of these 3,758 iconic blue UNICEF

backpacks represent a child killed in conflict last year.

UNICEF says these are just the verified incidents and estimates 12,000 kids were killed or maimed due to war in 2018. That is the highest number

recorded by the U.N. to date. The backpack graveyard sits outside the U.N. headquarters in New York just days ahead of the U.N. General Assembly.

An Iranian woman who was denied entry into a football stadium in Tehran has died a week after setting herself on fire. The 29-year old faced charges

of appearing in public without a hijab and trying to enter the stadium dressed like a man. She's been dubbed the Blue Girl for the colors of her

favorite team.

This week, CNN's "WORLD SPORT" is shining a light on a critical issue hindering what is the beautiful sport that is football. Racism, whether on

the field or online, some players of color are coping with vile racial abuse from fans. One of them is English Premier League star Tammy Abraham,

the Chelsea striker. He told CNN the online abuse brings his mum to tears.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABRAHAM: Speaking to my mum, she was emotional. You know, she was in tears. You know, she's just thinking, why him, why him. You know, it's

obviously not nice to hear, you know, especially seeing your son getting abused.

For me, I'm always a strong character. You know, it doesn't affect me as much. But you know, all I'm saying is that it could affect people who

don't have my personality.

DARREN LEWIS, CNN WORLD SPORT CONTRIBUTOR: Are you surprised Twitter, as a social media company, they've got a code of conduct but they can still

words that will get onto their site and are not seen as offensive, the kind of thing that you had?

ABRAHAM: If you're going to block some words, you might as well just block everything that's negative really you know, because it just gives everyone

an excuse to go online behind their laptops, on their phones in their beds to say what they want. You know, some people might not think we see it but

we do see it. But it does affect some people. So we need to understand that. That is bullying over social media.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Very erudite, Tammy Abraham. Well, watch the full interview on WORLD SPORT. That is in just 15 minutes right here on CNN. If you can't

wait until then, these stores at cnn.com/sport, you can find it, of course, on the CNN app.

We're going to take a very short break. Stay with us. The CEO of the most profitable country in the world says it will soon be going public.

Just how soon?

Just how much of the company will actually be sold?

The details on that are just ahead.

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ANDERSON: It's just after half past 7:00 in the evening in the UAE.

[11:30:00]

ANDERSON: This is CONNECT THE WORLD. It's been a year of will they or won't they. The world's biggest oil company Saudi Aramco teasing investors

with if and when they'll go public.

Its CEO now says it could be happening very soon. And let me tell you, this will be a very big deal. The Saudis believe the company is worth $2

trillion. Yes, you heard me right, $2 trillion. While some insiders say it's closer to $1.5 trillion, that is still an awful lot of zeros. Aramco

is the world's most profitable company, surpassing Apple and Google. Its listing could make it the largest IPO ever by some distance.

Now the IPO, the centerpiece of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030. He plans to diversify the Saudi economy. We've seen big moves in

the last week. John Defterios has been working his sources at the World Energy Congress here in Abu Dhabi.

You couldn't have been in a better place.

What are you hearing?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes, this is a pretty massive scrum that we got right in front of the CEO. The narrative has changed

radically since we had the conversation on Sunday with Abdulaziz taking over as the minister of energy.

Amin Nasser has always told me we're ready because Aramco has its books in order and it's ready to go for the IPO. It has changed to we'll be ready

very soon. Then he popped in on the same answer and suggested that Riyadh is not only the preferred market, it's the primary market. They're going

to go out domestically but perhaps with the biggest share offering in Riyadh itself, which is a home field advantage.

Take a look at the gigantic scrum we had and the interchange we had in that crazy pack of oil journalists I see very often around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMIN NASSER, ARAMCO CEO: That's a shareholder decision when it comes to this, as I always say, the decision is with the shareholders. From Aramco

side, we always say we are ready for whatever the decision is locally, which is going to be the primary listing, it still is locally. But you

also -- ready also for listing outside the -- in other districts.

(CROSSTALK)

DEFTERIOS: Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt. The other jurisdiction would be a Tokyo preference so there's less litigation?

NASSER: It's a shareholder decision.

(CROSSTALK)

DEFTERIOS: Do you have a preference for that?

NASSER: We are ready, as I say, to list wherever the shareholder decides. We are (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: The very fact they're going for a Saudi listing in the first instance is to sop up the liquidity that exists in Saudi and there is some

liquidity there. But they've not --

(CROSSTALK)

DEFTERIOS: No resistance to Riyadh, too, which I think is --

ANDERSON: Right. But they must be disappointed.

[11:35:00]

ANDERSON: The idea of this was to get Saudi Aramco into New York or London.

Why -- what's been the problem?

defense There's a couple key points on that. I'm glad you brought it up because New York, you're opening yourself up to potential litigation, both

from the 9/11 victims, of course --

(CROSSTALK)

DEFTERIOS: -- always been (INAUDIBLE).

Number two, because the environmentalists are saying that the -- you have the potential damage because of the environmental and they would go after

Saudi Aramco perhaps as a first target.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. Stay with it. I think a pack of oil journalists is known as a slick of journalists.

DEFTERIOS: This is a group that travels around the world. We all know each other so it gets fairly aggressive but fun.

ANDERSON: Yes. All right, well, you stood your ground.

We're going to take you to the country of Georgia now. It's a nation of medieval castles, religious shrines and the stunning beauty of the Caucasus

Mountains. It's in those mountains you can experience a brand of adventure tourism that's truly special. It's the latest edition of what is our

series, "Destination Georgia." Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Nestled among the great Caucasus Mountains, this is Stepantsminda. The town is located on the foothills of

Georgia's third highest peak, Mt. Kazbegi. Now this is a thrill seeker's paradise.

In recent years, paragliding has really taken flight in Georgia.

ALEXANDER ISKANDAROV, PARAGLIDER (voice-over): Paragliding is one of the best way to exploring and (INAUDIBLE) Georgia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Alexander Iskandarov is an adventure guide and one of Georgia's pioneer paragliders.

ISKANDAROV (voice-over): Paragliding in Georgia is very important, because my aim is to share this experience to new people, inspire people to explore

Georgia in a different way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Early afternoon, as the winds pick up, it's time to take to the skies.

ISKANDAROV (voice-over): When I'm paragliding, I feel only freedom because I can control the speed, I can control the space and motion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Starting out when he was 16, he got the flying bug from his grandmother.

ISKANDAROV (voice-over): Back in the '60s, she was a skydiver in Georgia. She was about 23 years old. At this time it was a very unique experience,

especially for women.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): An increasing number of tourists are coming to Georgia specifically to paraglide. One of them is Christine

Gschwandtl from Austria.

CHRISTINE GSCHWANDTL, PARAGLIDER (voice-over): There is a lot to explore here, paragliding into (INAUDIBLE) because it's undeveloped country still

and we got very interested because we find out about the high mountains, like 5,000 meters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): As the day of flying comes to an end and the adrenaline rush subsides, for Alex, one last pleasure remains, to sit

back and delight in the view of these rugged mountains.

ISKANDAROV (voice-over): Georgia is amazing because here is everything is wild. Amazing for all activities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

ANDERSON: I want to get you to Israel. We've got some news from Benjamin Netanyahu, who just has made an address to the nation on prime-time TV. I

want to get to our correspondents. Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem; Sam Kiley, for all the right reasons tonight, is in the West Bank.

Oren, what did we hear from the Israeli prime minister?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has certainly talked about and promised annexation of the settlements in the

West Bank before but never quite like this.

In the past, he's talked in vague terms and general areas. Today, he put forward a specific map, saying if he wins the election, if he gets a clear

mandate from the public, he'll pursue annexation of not only the settlements but also the Jordan Valley, saying it's the eastern border of

Israel and that it's vital to Israel's security and for its strategic depth.

But he made it clear that this was at the top, essentially, an election speech. He said, look, President Trump's peace plan is coming forward

soon, perhaps even right after the election. And for that, to handle that, who would you prefer handle that?

Netanyahu or his rivals?

There, he said, he's the only one who can handle it. Shortly thereafter, he'll immediately pursue, if he has a clear a mandate from the public,

annexation, Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, again, calling it crucial for Israel's strategic needs. He did say that he would not be

annexing some of the major Palestinian areas there, such as Jericho, Nujan (ph), some of the smaller villages there.

[11:40:00]

LIEBERMANN: He tried to hedge there, pointing out that Palestinians would have access to go whichever way they wanted. But if his plan were to come

to fruition, they would be going through what Israel would consider sovereign Israel.

You have to believe this was in coordination with President Trump, who has been quiet throughout most of this campaign. We'll look to see either a

response from Trump himself or perhaps the U.S. ambassador to Israel or others who are working on the peace plan.

What's new here is that Netanyahu was specific. He put out a map, he showed the Jordan Valley, the Israeli settlements. Let's look at the

context in which this happens. We're one week out from the Israeli elections. There's some polls that suggest that Netanyahu may have fallen

behind his main rival and this is an attempt to kickstart the right-wing voter base.

We'll see if Trump responds. That would be a major political gift to Netanyahu to try to help him win the election, which we saw before the last

election in April. So we'll follow how this plays out. And, of course, how it affects the voter base here.

Crucially, Netanyahu going for that rightwing voter base, saying if he gets a clear mandate from the public, he'll pursue annexation of the Jordan

Valley, again, calling it crucial for Israel's security and strategic needs and other areas as well.

ANDERSON: An issue he discussed in the days in the run-up, of course, to the election four months ago, an election he won and wasn't able to build a

coalition on the back of.

Sam, we won't annex a single Palestinian, is what the Israeli prime minister said in his speech as he pointed to the map, which shows Jericho.

Your analysis?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: First of all, this is a restatement of Israel's very long-standing position in terms of

negotiations over a two-state solution.

Previous Israeli proposals have been to have some kind of security control, as they used today call it, over this landscape below me, the Jordan

Valley. This is the southern end of the north if you like. The northern edge of the Dead Sea.

That city down there is Jericho. Under any Israeli plan that we've seen over the last 20 or so years, that would remain Jericho, a Palestinian

territory. The Israelis have always wanted some kind of control over the rest.

What Donald Trump has done, though, he is both -- as Oren was rightly saying, pitching, saying elect me and I'll go ahead with it. He was also

stating pretty boldly that this is going to be endorsed by the Trump administration.

So there's this actual threat of unilateral action to take over not only the Jordan Valley but the Jewish settlements on the West Bank, which was to

be negotiated as part of the two-state solution. With every day that passes, a one-state solution or no two-state solution looks more and more

likely.

ANDERSON: The breaking news this hour, the Israeli prime minister announcing plans to apply Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank

should he win the next election, which, of course, is seven days from today. Thank you, Sam.

I'm Becky Anderson. That was CONNECT THE WORLD. Thank you for watching.

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