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Democrats Question Career Diplomat on Ukraine Experience; CNN and "The New York Times" Host Biggest Primary Debate Ever; The 2020 Presidential Race in Ohio; SDF Reports 75 Civilians Killed, 450+ Wounded in Turkish Invasion; Interview with Rep. Anthony Brown (D-MD) on Trump's Syrian Troop Withdrawal; Royals Tour Pakistan; Saudis Play Historic Match against Palestinians. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired October 15, 2019 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fiona Hill, telling lawmakers about her concerns with Rudy Giuliani's shadow foreign policy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bolton describing him as a hand grenade who is going to blow everybody up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At what point might we see Rudy Giuliani arrested?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was another day in Adam Schiff's kangaroo court. The Democrats should provide the Republicans with what they insist.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Twelve candidates will be on the stage for the CNN/"The New York Times" Democratic debate.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Biden seems to have sort of plateaued.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN HOST: Elizabeth Warren steps on the stage perhaps as the front-runner in the race.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: This hour, day two, round two as Democratic lawmakers work their way into Donald Trump's inner circle.
Plus, blink and you'll miss it. Blink again and you'll miss the decision, going in the totally opposite direction. The latest on Syria.
And a football match between Saudi Arabia and the Palestinians, a geopolitical specter.
Why is that?
More on that ahead.
Right now on Capitol Hill, lawmakers running the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, hearing new closed door testimony. Today they're
questioning George Kent, a career diplomat with the U.S. State Department, with years of experience working with and in Ukraine.
Democrats trying to get to the bottom of the Trump administration's dealings with the country. CNN has learned the last witness in the inquiry
on Monday called those dealings corrupt.
A source tells us former Trump advisor Fiona Hill painted a picture of a dangerous rogue operation in the White House, cutting the State Department
out of the loop on foreign policy, which she says Russia could easily exploit.
Meanwhile, it's a big day for candidates who want voters to push Donald Trump out of the White House; 12 Democrats will take the stage just hours
from now in a jumbo sized debate.
Joining me, Lauren Fox, following the action on Capitol Hill; Jeff Zeleny is in Ohio. And standing by with analysis Harry Enten in New York. Let's
get started folks.
With you, Lauren, some explosive testimony on the Hill from one Fiona Hill, sounding the alarm about Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani,
setting up what is likely to be a slew of new information in this impeachment inquiry this week, correct?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Becky. I will tell you that Fiona Hill was behind closed doors with lawmakers for
more than 10 hours yesterday. And one of the biggest giveaways and takeaways from that testimony was the fact that she raised concerns about
Rudy Giuliani's shadow foreign policy abroad and that she raised those concerns to her superiors.
I will also tell you that one of the other big moments during that testimony yesterday was the fact that she told lawmakers that she had
concerns when Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, was reassigned from her post in that country back to the United States.
That was just a few of the things we heard from lawmakers coming out. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat on the Oversight Committee, had this to say about
Rudy Giuliani's role abroad.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD.), MEMBER, JUDICIARY AND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEES: Rudy Giuliani has clearly been a leading force for the administration in
defining a shadow foreign policy in Ukraine.
There was an official foreign policy, which was attempting to counter corruption in Ukraine. And then there was Rudy Giuliani and, you know, the
gang that couldn't shoot straight, who worked for him, who were involved precisely in connecting with corruption in Ukraine and promoting corruption
in Ukraine.
So you had two foreign policies that were working completely against each other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX: Deputy assistant secretary George Kent is behind closed doors with lawmakers as we speak. It's going to be another busy week on Capitol Hill
with deadlines for the vice president to turn over documents as well as the secretary of defense and the OMB director -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Importantly, of course, George Kent subpoenaed to appear in front of these committees. Thank you for that.
This comes, of course, Harry, as new polls show Americans are pretty much split on impeachment.
What are these new polls telling us?
Break it all down if you will.
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HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I think it's very important to separate out the removal versus the inquiry. On the inquiry It seems to me
that Americans overall are in fact in favor of that, the impeachment inquiry.
We have a new Quinnipiac University poll that came out yesterday, that shows the majority of Americans support the inquiry, 51 percent. That's
largely in line with what the other polling has tended to suggest. That is a majority of Americans support the inquiry.
On impeach and remove itself, that Quinnipiac University poll shows about even. That looks like the polling as well. So Americans seem ready to say
yes, we approve of the inquiry but impeaching and removing Trump, let's want and see what evidence comes out during the inquiry.
ANDERSON: It's fascinating times, isn't it.
Should we expect -- I mean, we've been seeing some sort of momentum for the impeachment inquiry approval rating to rise.
Do you see any change in inquiry and removal to date?
ENTEN: Yes, I think this is rather interesting. If you look at before the inquiry started, if you were to say was it a good idea or bad idea, the
majority of Americans would have said it's a bad idea.
Now the majority of Americans say it's a good idea. Let's break it down a little bit more. If you were to ask that question just after the
impeachment inquiry started and now, we've been a few weeks into the impeachment inquiry and ask it now, there hasn't been a lot of movement
over the last few weeks.
Essentially, if you were to basically, say, hey, is there any more movement now towards the impeachment inquiry, I'd say not really, no. Now voters
seem to be much more set in their ways.
Once the Democrats said we're going to come out with the inquiry, the momentum seem to have stopped. It stopped on the right side for Democrats.
But if you're looking to get towards 60 percent supporting the impeachment inquiry, I'm not quite sure we're there yet. We'll have to wait and see
what happens because there are developments happening right now in fact in Washington.
ANDERSON: Yes, fascinating.
I've got a couple other things I want to interrogate with you. We have coming up tonight candidates -- or contenders for Democratic candidate
going head to head in the CNN/"New York Times" debate later on.
What are the polls telling us who is up and who is down so far as these candidates are concerned at this point?
ENTEN: If you were basically to look at this entire year, right, Joe Biden has been at about 30 percent of the national primary polls. You see it
right there on the screen. He's still about there, right in a FOX News poll that was taken last week and a Quinnipiac University poll that was
taken this week.
But Elizabeth Warren is the story. She was in single digits at the beginning of the year. Every month it seems she gains a little bit more
ground. In fact, if you look at that Quinnipiac University poll, she's slightly ahead, though it's within the margin of error.
Right now what we really have is a top tier between Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden with everybody else far back. Bernie Sanders is in the mid-teens
but he's not moving at all.
Despite the fact we have 12 candidates -- how many seconds are they going to get to answer a question -- despite all those people on stage, it really
is just Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren at the top, with Warren rising and Biden stable at this point.
ANDERSON: Let's get to Ohio then, call it what you will, bellwether, swing state. Jeff, set the scene for us.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Becky, Ohio has always been the mother of all presidential battlegrounds. It's been nearly 60
years since the last Democrat won the White House, John F. Kennedy, without winning Ohio. That's how important this state has been to Democrats.
Now there's a question if Democrats can win here in Ohio after President Trump won here in 2016. So we talked to voters to see what was on their
minds.
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TRUMP: Thank you, Ohio. We love you, Ohio.
ZELENY (voice-over): And Ohio loved President Trump back. His 2016 victory, so convincing, it begs the question of whether Ohio has lost its
lure as a pivotal battleground. This week as Democratic presidential candidates descend on the state for their next debate, all eyes are on
Ohio.
But will they be by Election Day?
MAYOR NAN WHALEY, DAYTON, OHIO: Why would you advocate Ohio so quickly to Donald Trump?
ZELENY (voice-over): Nan Whaley is the Democratic mayor of Dayton and she says voters should hold President Trump accountable for his trade policies,
promising to restore manufacturing jobs and so far not acting on guns, a key issue here after a mass shooting killed nine people and injured 27.
WHALEY: I almost feel like Hillary's loss awakened a group of people that were not interested or willing to do the work of politics.
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WHALEY: They are now completely fixated because they know what's at stake here in 2020.
ZELENY (voice-over): She's talking about women like Stephanie Pyser, Tiffany Roberts and Lisa Ludwig. Shellshocked by Trump's victory, they
formed a group in the Columbus suburbs called Positively Blue.
STEPHANIE PYSER, OHIO VOTER: This neighborhood tends to be a little bit more Republican. And that was kind of the reason that we started
Positively Blue. We didn't have anyone to talk to.
ZELENY (voice-over): They're motivated by a sense of obligation and perhaps feelings of guilt.
LISA LUDWIG, OHIO VOTER: I kind of wish I would have been more involved prior to the 2016 election. Truthfully, I didn't think that would be the
outcome.
ZELENY: You didn't think Trump could win?
LUDWIG: Never. I like to think I'm pretty in tune but I never saw it coming.
ZELENY (voice-over): Winning Ohio will be no small task for Democrats. While Barack Obama carried the state twice, Trump's 8-point victory over
Hillary Clinton showed how deeply red Ohio can be. But the suburbs are changing.
Here in Westerville, Mitt Romney beat Obama 53-45 percent in 2012. But four years later, Clinton won 50-45 percent, despite losing the state.
DAVID PEPPER, OHIO DEMOCRATIC PARTY: There are areas of the state that only six in 8-10 years ago were reliably Republican, big population centers
that are now blue. That makes the starting point of the 2020 election a lot closer from the get-go.
ZELENY (voice-over): State Democratic chairman David Pepper said the parties should select a nominee who appeals to a broad cross-section of
voters. But Jane Timken, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, believes Trump is in a strong position here. She says all of the Democratic
candidates are too radical for Ohio.
JANE TIMKEN, OHIO REPUBLICAN PARTY: Those messages don't really resonate in Ohio and I don't think suburban voters are going to buy it.
ZELENY (voice-over): But around kitchen tables like this, at least one thing has changed from 2016: the Trump presidency is motivating Democrats.
LUDWIG: I've talked to people who admitted they voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and will not be doing so next time. So -- and they've always voted
Republican.
ZELENY: Do you think they're making a mistake by underestimating what's happening in your kitchen and in kitchens across Ohio?
PYSER: Oh, yes. Yes. But don't tell them.
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(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: So there's no question that Democrats here and even some former Trump voters are looking for a change. The question is, what kind of
change that will be. That is what this Democratic debate tonight is all about.
Of course, Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren are the front-runners in this race. Others could also be making their arguments trying to get back into
the leading race of the competition here. So certainly a big night here in Ohio. And a year from now we'll see if it's still a battleground state --
Becky.
ANDERSON: Jeff, always a pleasure. Thank you.
And to all of our reporters, excellent insights. You can catch the next Democratic presidential debate hosted by CNN and "The New York Times"
Tuesday night, 8:00 in the U.S. 4:00 am here in Abu Dhabi; 8:00 in Hong Kong. You'll work out the times where you are locally.
This just in, in an effort to control the messaging around this impeachment inquiry, the Republicans are holding a meeting tomorrow. More on that as
we get it. We're covering all of this, impeachment, Democratic debate, all of that, cnn.com/politics.
One big question we take on there, why did President Trump change his mind about going public with his tax returns back in 2013?
He wanted to show how smart he was for paying so little for taxes.
What's changed?
Find out more at cnn.com. This is CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson, live from Abu Dhabi.
Still ahead, the diplomatic whiplash in Washington and beyond after President Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. We look at
the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.
And we hear from a Democratic U.S. congressman who has some biting criticism of the president's latest moves. Anthony Brown joining me live.
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ANDERSON: The calls growing louder for Turkey to end its military operation in Syria. Just a short time ago, Britain's prime minister and
the NATO secretary-general both urged Turkey to stand down and instead focus its efforts on defeating ISIS.
Boris Johnson and Jens Stoltenberg issued a statement after a meeting in London. Their concern comes as we get fresh casualty numbers from both
sides nearly a week after Turkey began its military offensive against Kurds in northern Syria.
Kurdish forces report at least 75 civilians killed and 450 wounded. Turkey says one of its soldiers has been killed and eight others injured in an
attack near the former ISIS stronghold of Manbij. Arwa Damon is along the Turkish-Syrian border, Nick Paton Walsh in the city of Irbil on the other
side of the border from Syria.
Arwa, let me start with you, the calls coming thick and fast for Turkey to end this offensive.
Is Ankara listening?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At this stage, no, it doesn't seem like it. At the very least, Ankara is not listening to
Washington. It's not listening to the White House and it's not listening to any of the calls that are coming from Europe.
Because, from Ankara's perspective, the West has failed in understanding exactly why it is that Turkey is so upset with the fact that the U.S. chose
the Syrian Kurdish fighting force known as the YPG as an ally on the ground in the northern Syria in the fight against ISIS.
Turkey views them as being one and the same as the PKK that the Turkish government has been battling for decades. At this stage, Turkey has -- the
president has been clear about this -- lost patience with his so-called Western allies.
A few days ago President Erdogan told European nations if they dared today criticize this operation, he would open the gates for the refugees to be
flooding back to Europe's shores once again.
At this stage, in this fast-moving situation, the one player, the one nation that can mediate something between the various parties on the
ground, that can actually perhaps push the notion of a cease-fire forward is not Europe, it's not America, it's Russia.
ANDERSON: Nick, meantime, on the ground -- thank you. The Kurdish administration says around 275,000 people have been displaced from the
area. You have spent much of the past 72 hours in since this fighting ratcheted up less than a week ago.
Who are these people and where are they going?
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I have to tell you, when we were there, we did not see vast convoys of people on the move,
not like we've seen in the past in displacement in that area. That may be because it had already happened to some degree by the time we got there.
The roads were not jammed by people necessarily trying to get out. These are people who presumably have fears of the regime coming in or of the
Turkish backed Syria rebels coming in. Those are described as being former ISIS, former Al Qaeda. There are many who were close to the Americans who
would fear the regime coming in.
These are the changing dynamics, going back to what's happening today, as far as we're beginning to see, we're hearing from an eyewitness now that
the Turkish-backed forces have gone down to the main highway.
The Turkish have advanced about 20 kilometers down that way from the town that is now held by the Syrian regime. They're suggesting maybe that main
highway is the outer border of how far Turkey intends to go.
It would make logical sense if that was where they began to draw lines. It doesn't seem that Erdogan has desires to push over that highway and head
further south.
We're also hearing, of course, outside of Manbij, where the Americans had a base, always contested town, certainly, the Americans are no longer there
and there are Russians and Syrian regime forces moving towards it, if not already in it.
And Russian military police providing the buffer, the kind of patrolling, if you like, of the demarcation zone between pro Turkish forces to its
north and those inside it. It looks after this fast moving pace of events, over a lot of time in very sparsely populated areas. We might be beginning
to see things congeal into a current situation that might last a bit longer.
But where does the influence of the United States fit? Nothing. They're sending vice president Mike Pence, not frankly a career international
diplomat of vast caliber. They're sending him to Ankara to try to talk to Turkey. They've just released fairly toothless sanctions against Turkey
and who, in their hearts, know Donald Trump authorized this at the start between Turkey and the Syrian Kurds, who many think, frankly, are being
betrayed by the United States.
Utterly startling the U.S. put itself in this political position and, on the ground, it doesn't matter what they say; their troops are leaving in
various precarious circumstances. They announced they're happening before they're getting a chance to pack, startling military procedure.
So the ground has changed in a matter of days. We wind ourselves back from last Sunday where it was clear the U.S. and Turkey felt they had a
mechanism that could slow things down and calm matters. And here we are now, America is out and Russia and Turkey are calling the shots.
ANDERSON: Yes. Absolutely remarkable, as you rightly point out; the speed of this has been something that's shocked everybody in the region.
Arwa, this entire crisis in Syria brings into question Turkey's true position on their alliance with America and NATO. Mark Esper recently
spoke to this concern. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: They seem like much of an ally now, Turkey?
MARK ESPER, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: No, I think Turkey, the arc of their behavior over the past several years has been terrible. I mean, they
are spinning out of the Western orbit, purchasing Western arms, cuddling up to President Putin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: You've provided our expert analysis on what is this non-linear relationship that Turkey has with Russia. The dynamics of that
relationship are really quite malleable.
Let me put it that way. They slip around to a certain extent. According to whether Ankara and/or Moscow believes, you know, it's in their interest.
I wonder what you believe is the long game for Turkey with everyone else, including NATO?
DAMON: Look, there's one thing that Turkey doesn't make any secret of and, like other countries, it will put its own national security first. And
from Turkey's perspective with the YPG posing this existential threat, they believe it's well within their rights to put their national security first.
This whole operation allows them to achieve that.
[11:25:00]
DAMON: And in theory Turkey wanted to move upwards of 2 million refugees who live in Turkey into the safe zone. That in and of itself creates a
whole lot of issues because those refugees aren't from there and also because it would potentially significantly change the demographic along the
border.
That aside, Turkey feels that the West is the one who actually turned away from it first by being so un-understanding when it came to why Turkey was
so upset about the allegiance with the YPG inside Syria.
And Turkey has felt and had felt in the past, when major population centers were getting pounded both by the PKK and ISIS, that the West hasn't stood
with it.
Turkey is quite pragmatic when it comes to how it's dealing with various nations. It had said it's well within its rights to protect its own
national security but also when it comes to its relationship with Russia.
It's quite fascinating to a certain degree how those two countries are able to compartmentalize their relationship. Look, they're on different sides
of the conflict when it comes to what's happening inside Idlib. Yet they still throughout all of that managed to maintain very significant and
robust economic ties.
And then you look at what's happening right now inside Syria, the Russians have relationships with the Kurds and are talking to them. They're
obviously the biggest backer of Bashar al-Assad and they have a relationship with Turkey.
Russia is going to be the country that most likely ends up resolving negotiating some sort of a cease-fire and then parceling up the territory
inside northern Syria. America has completely sidelined itself.
And it does seem, as I was saying last hour, the other key players are looking at a multidimensional chess board and America is still thinking
this is a game of checkers.
ANDERSON: Yes. Fascinating to both of you on the ground. Thank you.
Ahead, a double dose of controversy for Donald Trump. The U.S. president also dealing with the ongoing impeachment inquiry in Washington, now with
the global fallout from his decision to withdraw troops from Syria. We're going to talk about both with U.S. Democratic congressman Anthony Brown,
who has a unique perspective on this. Up next.
Plus a landmark football match played in the West Bank. We'll tell you why the staging of a Saudi-Palestinian match is a lot more important than the
actual score.
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ANDERSON: We're looking at two big stories roiling the world this hour, both focusing on the U.S. president.
In Washington, another official testifying behind closed doors and under subpoena in this impeachment probe. George Kent is a career State
Department diplomat whose played a large role at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine.
His appearance comes as President Trump continued his Twitter tirade, calling it a witch hunt once again.
And Mr. Trump sending his vice president to Turkey to try and negotiate some sort of cease-fire in the Turkish invasion into northern Syria, a
military conflict that the president himself sparked when he decided to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.
I want to talk more about this with U.S. Democratic congressman Anthony Brown. He's the vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and
has a unique perspective, given that he served a tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Iraq.
Thank you, sir, for joining us. I want our viewers to see one of your tweets about the president's decision to pull out U.S. troops. You call it
"the hallmark of Trump's chaotic foreign policy, emboldened dictators, kick our allies to our curb."
With respect, many people in this region --and I'm here in the Middle East in the Gulf -- say, Donald Trump might own this latest whiplash decision on
Syria and Turkey but it's ultimately President Obama, his predecessor, who should ultimately own the mess that is now the Syria crisis.
Your response to that?
REP. ANTHONY BROWN (D-MD): Look, first of all, let me say there is overwhelming strong bipartisan support here in Washington, D.C.,
Republicans and Democrats as well as bicameral. House members and members of the Senate that are condemning, criticizing President Trump's decision.
His decision demonstrates that he is either ignorant of the circumstances on the ground and history or he's indifferent to the consequences of his
actions.
What we're seeing today in northern Syria is the direct result of President Trump's decision. It was not unknown to him, as demonstrated as early as
December of last year, when Secretary Mattis resigned, when President Trump at that point threatened to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria.
ANDERSON: I think my point is -- and I guess it's a question to you.
Do you accept that this isn't the first U.S. president in recent history to be out of touch with the realities on the ground here in the Middle East?
BROWN: What we've seen before -- look, I was a big supporter of the prior administration. But when you pull U.S. forces out and haven't completed
the job, the lesson we've now learned is you're going to see a reemergence of violent extremist organizations.
That's what happened in Iraq with ISIS and that's no doubt what's going to happen here in Syria. While over the last several years, the United States
primarily with our Kurdish partners had diminished ISIS' capabilities in Syria. We had greatly reduced if not eliminated the physical caliphate.
We have not eliminated the ideology. And we know there are over 10,000 ISIS fighters that are still in Syria in the custody of our Kurdish
partners. We run the risk in withdrawing from Syria that there will be a reemergence of ISIS.
And what that means for the United States, it's a real threat not only to the United States, it's a threat to Europe, a threat to our allies and
partners around the world. It was a mistake. It was unavoidable.
[11:35:00]
ANDERSON: Donald Trump is calling on Ankara to end this incursion. Mr. Erdogan himself writing "The Wall Street Journal," "My administration
repeatedly warned that we would be unable to stop refugees from flooding into the West without international financial support.
"Those warnings fell on deaf ears, as governments eager to avoid responsibility portrayed as a threat what was intended as a mere statement
of fact."
He's speaking to the wide international community here but this, not falling on deaf ears in the States I'm sure. He says since the
international community didn't come up with a solution on a myriad of things, not least the issue of 3.6 million refugees, Turkey had to act.
Does he have a point?
BROWN: You're going to have to repeat that question, I apologize. It's loud in the background here.
ANDERSON: Apologies. Effectively President Erdogan saying the international community, including the United States, didn't come up with a
solution on refugees on their enemy to the south in Syria, the PKK, YPG. Turkey had to act, he said.
Does he have a point?
BROWN: Well, this is the point. The point is that with the presence of U.S. special forces who were participating, they're coordinating with
Turkey and the Kurds to create a safe zone in northern Syria. It may have not been the best and the most optimal scenario but it brought stability to
an otherwise volatile region by removing U.S. forces.
Now we're seeing today 250,000 Syrians fleeing to the south. They're now displaced. That's on top of the 3 million Syrians that are refugees in
Turkey. So this was all avoidable and the decision that the president made to withdraw U.S. forces greenlighted Erdogan's decision.
ANDERSON: As you say. I mean, bipartisan criticism of the U.S. president for his actions with regard to Turkey and Syria. That is not the case when
it comes to impeachment and, indeed and/or removal.
Where do you stand on this impeachment issue?
Should he be impeached?
Should he be removed?
BROWN: The House Intelligence Committee is taking a focused look at the president's conduct when it comes to using a foreign government official,
the president of Ukraine, to dig up dirt on a political opponent; in this case, vice president Biden.
President Trump invited foreign interference in our 2020 election. That's an abuse of power. It's a betrayal of his oath of office. It undermines
our national security because it undermines our elections.
That certainly is prima facie when you look at the transcript summary of the conversation with President Zelensky, when you look at the credible,
urgent complaint made by the whistleblower. That's prima facie impeachable defense.
So I think the House Intelligence Committee is doing the right thing. They're conducting the investigations, I suspect that in due time articles
of impeachment will come to the floor of the House and we ought to be able to send something to the Senate for a trial.
ANDERSON: With that, we leave it there. It's a pleasure having you on, sir. Like I say, your insight, particularly, with regard to the Middle
East, very important for us and our viewers. Congressman Anthony Brown in the House. Thank you.
Happening in just the last few hours, Pakistan's prime minister reveals the U.S. president asked him to be a go between with Iran. CNN sits down with
Imran Khan coming up.
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ANDERSON: You're back with CONNECT THE WORLD. And it has been a busy first full day in Pakistan for Britain's Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The morning began with Prince William and his wife, Catherine, visiting students at the foothills of the Himalayas.
They also met with the prime minister in his official residence in Islamabad, their visit coming at a complicated time for the country. CNN's
Max Foster joins us now from Islamabad.
What did Prime Minister Imran Khan have to tell you?
MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: It's a bit of a mad dash himself. In the last few days he was in Tehran meeting with President Rouhani. He
came back to meet Prince William.
[11:45:00]
FOSTER: He hadn't seen him for 23 years, when William was a boy and the former cricketer told him he wanted to be prime minister one day. So a
personal moment for him. But he's actually -- that only happened a few hours ago.
He's already in Saudi Arabia, the prime minister because he is -- he sees himself in this moderator role in these tensions, these fast developing
tensions, between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
I had a chance to speak to him about that before he headed off to Riyadh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: So you're working with President Trump I understand on the Iran- Saudi situation, have you been empowered by him to mediate or facilitate this?
IMRAN KHAN, PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER: President Trump when I was at New York did say we should try and be a go between, Iran and the United States.
And I did speak to President Rouhani about the U.S. offer. And that's an rewarding (ph) situation. Let's see if it get anywhere.
FOSTER: Are you able to say to President Rouhani they may be a goodwill gesture coming from the United States to help with that bilateral
relationship?
KHAN: But the U.S. is a little bit more complicated. So we -- so I won't go into too much details about it until there's some response from both
sides.
FOSTER: Are you positive?
KHAN: I think so. I think there's a realization. I think President Trump, you know, say whatever people will say about him and criticize him,
but at least -- what I like about him is he does not believe in wars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: That was interesting, when I developed that line of thinking, you know, is he wrong to be pulling his troops out of Syria, for example, out
of Afghanistan. Actually, the prime minister was clear to say, how long do you stay in there?
Is it the right idea to keep perpetuating these wars?
So he's quite supportive to Donald Trump, which is surprising to some.
ANDERSON: How are Prince William and Catherine getting on?
FOSTER: Well, I think they're getting on really well, actually. A lot of the pictures have been fantastic coming out of Pakistan. You know, this
comes hot off the heels of a recent visit of the Sussexes to South Africa. You see a couple embracing the media, trying to make the most of it.
Interesting as well, there are Diana references throughout this tour as there was in South Africa. Imran Khan was a great fan of Princess Diana.
But Prince William wants to be his own man with his royal role.
The prime minister was supportive of that, as someone who knew Diana very well. He was pleased with how the trip went today. Tomorrow he'll talk
about the dangers of climate change, a big glacier slowly melting there.
ANDERSON: Pictures are gorgeous. All right. Max, thank you for that. We're taking a very quick break, folks. Back after this.
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ANDERSON: In the last hour, the referee blew the whistle to end an historic game of football. For the first time ever, Saudi Arabia played in
the West Bank against the Palestinian team. The Saudis were big favorites but it finished with a goalless draw I have to tell you.
Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem.
Regardless of the score, do explain why so many people believe this is a win for more than just football.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, this was never just about football. A good example of that right here behind me. On the separation
barrier separating us from Jerusalem, there is a Saudi Arabian flag, which is not something you see very often here.
This was as much about politics as it was about football. The match ended about an hour ago. This is the last of the crowd exiting the stadium, who
were there watching the match; 90 percent of the people in there were diehard fans of the Palestinian side and they showed it.
The Saudis did play a little bit better but the Palestinian side put up an aggressive flurry at the end. It wasn't only about football, it was about
the politics and quite a few sides. More than the teams on the field here have claimed this as a measure of victory.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): Sports are supposed to be above politics. But on this pitch, the football is almost a sideshow. It's Saudi Arabia versus
Palestine, playing in Israeli occupied territory. The first ever official Saudi visit here. Marking the historic visit, the Saudi team met
Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since we were children we have known and loved Palestine. We have wished and dreamt about visiting Palestine. Thank God.
I consider myself very lucky to be the first president of the Saudi Federation and possibly the first Saudi official to reach the Palestinian
territories.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): Saudi officials visited the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, the holiest site in Islam outside of Saudi Arabia.
MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT: Saudi Arabia was always committed to our justice cause, supported us everywhere and everything.
All the time.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): The stadium sits here on the edge of Jerusalem. The stadium entrance faces the separation barrier, a daily reality for
Palestinians living here.
In a match of two teams here, there are three sides who claimed a measure of victories. The Saudis, who see this as playing for the first time ever
in Palestine, the Palestinians who see this as the Saudis standing with their cause. And even the Israelis who see this as a measure of growing
ties with the Arab states.
Arab teams have played here before. Iraq played a friendly here last year. And the United Arab Emirates played a match in 2015. That same year the
Saudis refused to play here, saying it would be normalizing ties with Israel.
When asked why come here now, the couch of the Saudi team shifted the conversation back to football.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we come out one world with peace and everywhere, it would be perfect, of course. It's not the case but we are not a
politician. We are football players and coaches.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): It might be easy to read too much into this match. But like Israel's judo team competing in Abu Dhabi for the first
time one year ago, the symbolism matters. Right now, sports is out in front of politics.
The question is whether the politics cares to follow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIEBERMANN: Is one football match going to lead to some major political developments in the region?
No, almost certainly not. And relationships between Israel with the Arab states will remain under the table.
What would be a victory for Palestinians?
That would be in football, where they sit in the middle of their qualifying group with a difficult road ahead if they hope to play in the World Cup.
ANDERSON: Fantastic. Thank you, sir. That's Oren Liebermann to the north of Jerusalem.
Our top story this hour has been impeachment and in the run-up, of course, to these CNN Democratic presidential debate tonight.
[11:55:00]
ANDERSON: The 12 candidates will take the stage at 8:00 pm in New York, 4:00 am on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, 8:00 am in Hong Kong. If those times
don't work for you, the debate will replay at 9:00 Wednesday Abu Dhabi and 1:00 in the afternoon Hong Kong time.
I'm Becky Anderson. That was your fill on the CONNECT THE WORLD this evening. From Abu Dhabi, it is a very good evening, thank you for
watching.
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