Return to Transcripts main page

Connect the World

New Protests Erupt on Streets of Hong Kong; Hong Kong Protesters and Police Clash in Ongoing Campus Standoff; Interview with Ted Hui, Pro- Democracy Legislator, Speaks from Within the University in Hong Kong; Iranians Vent Anger Over Petrol Price Hike; Iraq Spy Chief Warns ISIS is Rebuilding; Leaked Iranian Cables Show Influence in Iraq. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired November 18, 2019 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: The Hong Kong University under siege as protesters and police are locked in a tense standoff.

Massive demonstrations erupt over fuel prices in Iran as leaders there warn of a crackdown by security forces.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. SAAD AL-ALLAQ, HEAD OF IRAQI MILITARY INTELLIGENCE: The real intention of ISIS is to begin a mission they're calling break down

defenses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Iraq's top military intelligence officer warns that ISIS is rebuilding itself in an interview you will only see on CNN.

And after shocking incidents of racism, a show of unity at a football match between Kosovo and England.

Well it's 7:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi. It is 6:30 in evening in Tehran and it is 11:00 at night in Hong Kong. I'm Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome to what

is our expanded edition of CONNECT THE WORLD.

Right now there is a tense standoff between protesters and police at a Hong Kong university as a night of intense drama unfolds. Take a look at these

pictures from a few hours ago. Students using ropes to lower themselves down on to the streets before they were whisked away.

Well this all happened as protests erupted not far from the campus. Tear gas and petrol bombs in the streets of Hong Kong once again. Students holed

up in the university have been clashing with police in some of the most violent protests seen yet in nearly six months of unrest. Anna Coran

joining me now and she has been in the middle of these latest street protests. What is the situation as we speak -- Anna?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky there seems to be a bit of a lull at the moment. We've been in street battles, witnessing street battles

between police and protesters here on Kowloon side. We are currently in Yau Ma Tei and there are just bricks scattered all over the road. I just

want to show you the barricade that the protesters have built. We have seen this street after street after street and the roads are just littered with

bricks. This is what the protesters have done.

They have come out in their thousands tonight trying to divert the police's attention away from Polytechnic University which is a few blocks from where

we are. It is cordoned off. Police will not let us in. No one can get in and no one can get out. It's believed there are several hundred protesters

stuck inside the campus. We were there yesterday with many of the protesters and they were showing us their stockpile of petrol bombs and

bricks. The showed us the catapult. Archers were showing us the bow and arrows they were firing at police.

Obviously, this all came to a head very early this morning when police tried to storm the campus. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COREN (voice-over): Flames are released from the parapets of a university turned battlefield. Anti-government demonstrators holed for a week, now

unloading their arsenal of medieval weapons. Police moved in early Monday morning desperate to force the occupiers out on the second day of a sage.

KWOK KA-CHUEN, HONG KONG POLICE: The university campus have become a part of at where danger is far beyond what we can estimate.

COREN: A powder keg that blew. Makeshift bomb like this gas canister turned into a nail bomb, homemade explosives posing as a deadly threat. Much of it

bursting into flames. Columns of smoke lifting from the campus. Police below stood armed with long barrel assault weapons in view and ready to

use, they say. The bitter violence left many of the young protesters inside too scared to run. Others made their escape, stealing a moment to get away

as supporters worked to distract police outside. Officers swooped to make dozens of arrests taking the tally to almost 5,000 protesters arrested

since June.

[10:05:00]

KA-CHUEN: Hong Kong has been crippled by violence and public fear for almost half a year now.

COREN: Nearly half a year now that has left Hong Kong often unrecognizable. The city's leader, Carrie Lam, out of site except for a Facebook post

urging people to surrender to police as the embattled force fought to gain control of the city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: And Becky, we just passed some of the riot police who have been trying to get a handle on the situation. They are probably some 500 meters

from where all these protesters are. I want to show you this is normally a major, major intersection here in Hong Kong and as you can see it's been

brought to a standstill. Protesters, obviously, working out their next move tonight. It has gone just 11 p.m. here in Hong Kong. And the protesters

believe that if they divert the police's resources, then perhaps those protesters that are trapped inside the university will be able to get out.

And we saw that stunning escape by some of the protesters, but from what we understand those who are inside are feeling absolutely exhausted. They've

been there now for days. Their supplies are getting low. The battle remains, but police have told them they need to surrender, that everybody

is going to be arrested inside that university. But these people out here tell them to maintain the fight. We are fighting outside. You continue to

maintain the fight. This has really become an incredible flashpoint in what is this escalating violence here in Hong Kong -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Anna's on the streets. Anna, thank you. Anna Coren in Hong Kong for you.

All right. Well, we want to bring you a guest who is inside that besieged university. Ted Hui is a pro-democracy Hong Kong legislative council member

joining us now. And thank you. What is going on inside?

TED HUI, LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL MEMBER HONG KONG (via phone): Inside the university are -- it's chaos. And it's also a battlefield. Over the past

two days, we have been -- people inside are understand attack by the police outside and the police are trying to come in. And young student protesters

here are trying to defend in preventing the police from coming in. So the conflict between the two were quite intense, the situation severe, and it's

a total blockage by the police surrounding the university. No one is allowed to go out at all. So --

ANDERSON: Ted, how many people -- how many students are we talking about?

HUI: It was originally about more than a thousand students, but still now some have escaped or were arrested, some were hurt and sent to hospital. I

think the number of students remaining is at around 600 to 800 here in the university now.

ANDERSON: Wow. So Ted, I mean are these students ready to give up to security forces, to authorities, at this point? Should they be allowed to

leave?

HUI: Yes, I think it's quite unreasonable for the police to have a blockage so that we can go out. Because it's only protest. And it's a protest for

human rights and democracy and freedom. They are not like criminals. So what's the point for --

ANDERSON: But hang on, Ted -- but hand on. As far as I understand it, they are -- they have got homemade, you know, devices, which would be clearly

very dangerous to security forces. I mean, they are armed.

HUI: I must admit that the protesters have used some level of force, some homemade weapons. But I think it's only natural because I would not blame

them because it's the police who initiated the fight itself and it's the police who escalated the situation in the first place. I cannot blame the

students for that. It's only a natural response for the students.

ANDERSON: Yes, but -- we're looking at im images of some of those homemade devices. Forgive me if it sounds like rather a naive question, but if the

students are ready to give up, to surrender to all intents and purposes to authorities, do you believe that that can be negotiated at this point?

[10:10:00]

HUI: I actually tried to be the negotiator between the two, and I would say that the police officer at the front lines are very outrageous and they are

very irrational, maybe after a long day of fight. So they would yell at me. They would throw insults at me. They are not willing to start any

discussions with me. So I tried to request for a way out for the protesters for them to leave peacefully but just to no avail.

ANDERSON: So just describe conditions inside the university then. I mean, both sort of physically and emotionally, what is going on inside? Is there

food and water? And what are students most concerned about next?

HUI: The situation inside is severe because they've been trapped inside the campus for days and now, they are running out of supplies, even food and

water. It's estimated they can only last for one more night and then they will be totally running out of food and water. And I think it's

unreasonable for the police in declaring all the students inside are criminals. They actually are calling them criminals and asking them to

surrender. I think it's wrong for the police to assume all of them have done crime at all. So many of them, I would say more than half of them, are

peaceful protesters. I admit that there are more radical ones at the front to fight with the police but what about the peaceful ones. It's

unreasonable just to catch them all and send them to jail.

ANDERSON: We know that multiple arrests were made around the campus on Monday as protesters attempted to leave. They were met with tear gas and

rubber bullets. Those that were caught by police were -- it was described as aggressively detained, so as you're suggesting that's clearly the fear

for those who are left. Look, are they supported in any way by the university or the polytechnics leadership? And what do you imagine will

happen in the next hours to come?

HUI: Unfortunately even the students are from the Polytechnic University, but the university management are -- hasn't shown up at all to help the

students to work through this. They actually -- the principal of the university announced a statement just stating the fact that accusing the

students of making trouble, they should leave and should not make trouble anymore and to listen to the police order and -- but not responding or

fulfilling, listening to the wishes, the demands of the students for freedom, democracy. So it's --

ANDERSON: Ted, yes, I mean, clearly, it's gone beyond their demands at this point as far as the authorities are concerned. Very briefly, how concerned

are you that this could get very, very nasty, deadly, indeed?

HUI: Yes. I am quite worried, very worried actually, because the conflict is escalating and the police is threatening already of using live

ammunition. And then I can expect that there can be quite many severely injured. I can expect that. So I urge the Hong Kong government to stop this

violence on the police part and then calm down and then just stay back from the university for now so that protesters can leave peacefully. If there

are any crimes they can always investigate in the future and look into it and I'm sure that those serious conflicts, difficult conflicts can totally

be avoided.

ANDERSON: Well, this is Ted Hui, who is clearly very concerned that things could spiral out of control with these, as Ted describes, 600 to 800

students, protesters, holed up in what is this now besieged university in Hong Kong. It is past 11:00 p.m. there in the evening. Ted, very concerned,

he says, that things could spiral out of control and could conceivably get deadly at this point.

Ted is a pro-democracy Hong Kong legislative council member who is inside the university.

[10:15:01]

As he says, he has been trying to play a sort of negotiation role but clearly at this point considers those security forces outside not prepared

to negotiate with these protesters/students. And Ted describing them as, you know, as both at this point. Ted, thank you.

As I said, it's a quarter past 11:00 in Hong Kong for the very latest on what is going on, CNN's got a live blog up. That is at CNN.com. Do use that

as the situation there ongoing.

We are monitoring another scene of unrest between protesters and security forces. This time in Iran. Well several people have died in now violent

protests in Iran after the government suddenly increased the price of petrol. Demonstrations have spread throughout the country and are now in

the fourth day.

This video was shot in Tehran where we are seeing street battles between protesters and Iranian government forces.

Let's bring in someone who knows the story intimately. Esfandyar Batmanghelidj is the founder and executive editor of "Bourse and Bazaar."

This is a media company that advocates business ties between Iran and Europe. Who is witnessing the sort of scenes that we have seen much time on

social media. What do you make, sir, of what you are seeing, certainly on the streets of Tehran and beyond?

ESFANDYAR BATMANGHELIDJ, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "BOURSE AND BAZAAR": Well, first and foremost, the protests show that there's a lot of distrust

between the public and the government and that the Iranian people are concerned about the government's economic management. I mean, the backdrop

to the protests are that this is a period of a real economic hardship in Iran. The country is going through a 9.5 percent recession this year,

according to IMF projections. And there is obviously a question mark on the part of many Iranians about why such a move should be made at this time

that puts additional pressure on their spending.

ANDERSON: Because let's be very clear, this reduction in the fuel subsidy was a long time coming, but the big question that you have just raised is

why now? Why did authorities think that it was a good idea to implement this at a time when the economy, as you rightly point out, is understand

severe strain and people are feeling a huge pressure? How do you explain it?

BATMANGHELIDJ: Well, there are a couple things to consider. One as you mentioned, subsidy reform is something that Iran has been pursuing all the

way back from the early '90s and the Rouhani administration from the time of his first term had been committed to eliminating untargeted subsidies

like a fuel subsidy. Which actually disproportionately benefit the wealthiest in Iran in favor of cash transfers which can be targeted to

those most economically vulnerable.

And indeed, the proposal of the reduction of the fuel subsidy we've seen was paired with a promise for a cash transfer. So tonight actually, 20

million Iranians will receive the first tranche of that monthly cash payment. And there is a sense that that might ease some of the concerns

that the government has made a decision without adequate consideration for the overall economic position.

But what's clear is that this kind of subsidy reform is difficult to do when government budgets are under pressure. The Rouhani administration has

been open with the reduction in oil sales related to U.S. sanctions, there is limited fiscal space to increase the cash transfers. It would seem that

they've increased that space by eliminating a fuel subsidy in order it try to provide some help that might actually do more to protect people from

inflation.

ANDERSON: I just want to get our viewers a sense of why, what is going on, is so painful to your average Iranian. A typical medium-sized car like, I

don't know, a Ford Focus, holds around 55 liters of fuel. Before Iran's price hike that would have cost an Iranian $14.30 to fill. And you could

have filled it up around six times every month without going over this subsidized ration.

Now, it would cost you nearly $21 and would nearly wipe out the monthly subsidized allowance. To fill up a second time in the same month would cost

you more than $34 now. A third trip to the pump would be totally unsubsidized and would cost $41. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a 188

percent increase.

[10:20:00]

We know that the IMF has long warned Iran to lose these gas subsidies. I know they put up a statement in 2010 hailing a move back then to curbs the

fuel assistance. Saying if all goes according to plan the strategy should serve the dual purpose of generating more revenue for the country and

curbing the wasteful use of energy.

But the point being that this in what is already a really strained economy, is pushing people over the top, correct. And when we talk about those who

are protesting on the streets, how would you describe their profile?

BATMANGHELIDJ: Well, it's difficult to come up with a really definitive profile. I mean, in some ways I think the protests are similar to the

protests we saw at the tail end of 2017, early 2018, which is when Iran experienced a very sharp devaluation of its currency.

And at that time what was noticeable about the protests were that they were quite disperse so they happened in many cities in Iran around the same

time. And that there wasn't really a clear composition to who was protesting. It was a mix of working-class Iranians and middle-class

Iranians and generally that speaks to sort of systemic frustration about where the economy is.

And the numbers you raised just now really, you know, hit at home as to why people would be concerned. And this is why I think there's so much weight

of expectation on whether or not the cash transfers will serve their intended purpose and help give people some peace of mind that they will be

able to afford both fuel and other goods according to their household spending needs.

I'll mentioned that in 2010 when Iran quadrupled the price of fuel by eliminating subsidies which led to the IMF statement. It was sort of the

effective rollout of the cash transfers that ultimately led to a bit of -- sort of an acceptance of the move be among the public. We'll have to see

what happens in the coming week.

ANDERSON: Esfandyar, we appreciate your time, thank you so much.

BATMANGHELIDJ: Thank you.

ANDERSON: A perspective which is really important when it comes to us having a perspective on why it is that we are seeing what is going on in --

on Iran at present. Follow the money on this. The U.S. sanctions having a massive impact on Iran's economy of course. Look at the World Bank's latest

forecast. It expects Iran's economy to contract another 8.7 percent in 2020. That is thanks to the impacts of the -- the impact of sanctions on

its oil and gas sector. That means over two years the Iranian economy will have suffered a decline of 90 percent, 9, 0 percent. That is staggering. I

will leave you with that thought as we take a very short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: It wasn't so long ago that the U.S. President Donald Trump claimed a victory in the fight against ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We just took over, you know, you kept hearing it was 90 percent, 92 percent, the caliphate in Syria. Now

it's 100 percent. We just took over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, not so fast. In an exclusive interview, the head of Iraq's military intelligence tells CNN that senior ISIS leaders are setting the

stage for a resurgence. Officials say it appears that the terrorist group is preparing to try to free tens of thousands of followers from prisons and

camps in northern Syria. Sam Kiley interviewed him. Here is his exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hidden among those fleeing the last stand of the so-called Islamic caliphate are

leaders who evaded prisons like these taking refuge in Turkey. Flush with millions of dollars and driven by revenge, they're plotting mass jail

breakouts to rebuild the terror network. These explosive warnings come from Iraq's veteran head of military intelligence in an exclusive interview with

CNN.

LT. GEN. SAAD AL-ALLAQ, HEAD OF IRAQI MILITARY INTELLIGENCE: (through translator): Those elements who are currently in areas in Turkey play a key

role in the new effort to recruit fighters.

Top-level leaders who fled secretly in the direction of Gazientep and other areas are key funding members of the organization. And they have vast

amounts of money. They even have investments in Turkey.

KILEY: The general said that he handed a dossier of nine ISIS leaders to Turkish military officials in this room a month ago. We were shown but not

allowed to film Iraqi arrest warrants for two of those men which said that they're expert bombmakers wanted for terror and mass murder. The warrants

say they pose a great danger in the Middle East and to the West. Turkish officials told CNN that they're looking into the allegations.

Iraq trapped and attacked former ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, forcing him from Iraq into Syria where he was eventually killed in October. But the

general warned that the ISIS threat remains potent. About 10,000 alleged fighters are now held in prisons guarded by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

How long they can be contained is unclear since Turkey's recent incursion into the area where it considers the Kurdish elements of the SDF a terror

group.

The Trump administration has been widely criticized for withdrawing U.S. forces who were working with the SDF from the border area. European forces

have done nothing to help contain the potential threat here and most refuse to repatriate their citizens who joined ISIS.

Turkish forces have rounded up dozens of alleged ISIS members recently arresting 42 people allegedly involved in complex money transfers for the

terror group. But Iraqi military intelligence believes that these prisons and others like it could be attacked at any time. Funded by ISIS leaders

living in Turkey.

AL-ALLAQ (through translator): We have concluded that the real intention of ISIS is to begin a mission they're calling breakdown defenses, to storm

jails inside Iraq and Syria to free terrorists.

KILEY (on camera): And what do you think should be done about them?

AL-ALLAQ (through translator): There should be a large international effort to deal with this because these criminals could escape camps and go back to

their countries. They pose a great danger to countries in Europe, Asia, and North Africa.

KILEY (voice-over): In the nation where the terrorist caliphate first emerged a warning that it still has the money and the intent to be reborn.

Sam Kiley, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Still ahead on this show, CONNECT THE WORLD with me Becky Anderson -- leaked Iranian intelligence cables point to questionable

influence in the Middle East. We'll hear from one of the journalists that uncovered that story. That's after this.

[10:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Before the break, we brought you Sam Kiley's exclusive report from Iraq and how the head of intelligence there is worried about ISIS

terrorists regrouping. Well now a bombshell story from the "New York Times" and the intercept suggests Iraqi intelligence itself and various other

Iraqi institutions are being infiltrated by Iran.

Murtaza Hussain is a national security reporter at The Intercept. He joins me now from our New York studios. And it's a pleasure having you on, sir.

This is a very rare leak coming out of Iran and a staggering amount of documentation. Do you have any idea firstly who was behind this?

MURTAZA HUSSAIN, NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER, THE INTERCEPT: We don't know who's behind the leak. The individual identified themselves as someone

who's not happy about the Iranian role in Iraq but beyond that we don't have specific information of where it came from.

ANDERSON: All right. Well look, let's have a look at your reporting which details a vast network -- a vast network of influence being run by Iran and

the Revolutionary Guards. What was the most shocking revelation to your mind?

HUSSAIN: Well it's important to look at what's going on in Iraq right now in context, specifically with Iran's role. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq,

the country and society was essentially shattered. And when the United States left in 2011 Iran attempted to put the pieces back together in a way

which was for their interests.

And as we know in the decades before the U.S. supported Saddam Hussein in a war against Iran, and Iran's number one objective is that it should never

happen again. Whoever is in power in Iraq must be somebody who is not hostile to Iranian interests, to bar the onslaught of war against the

Iranian homeland once more.

ANDERSON: Let's just get a little bit of your article for our viewers, which I thought very much summed up this story pretty accurately.

The unprecedented leak exposes Tehran's vast influence in Iraq, detailing years of painstaking work by Iranian spies to coopt the country's leaders,

pay Iraqi agents working for the Americans to switch sides and infiltrate every aspect of Iraq's political, economic and religious life.

I just wonder, knowing what you do, given these documents, how do you view the recently protests in Iraq where protesters are calling on Iran to stop

interfering in the country's affairs?

HUSSAIN: Well as our documents show, the current Iraqi Prime Minister has quote/unquote a special relationship with Iran. There are many high-ranking

ministers in the Iraqi government, current and former, who have close relations with Iran and Iran has a privilege access to the Iraqi economy.

They have access to Iraqi intelligence and security forces. Iran is a hegemonic power in Iraq today and Iraqis. Are not happy about that because,

like everyone around the world, they cherish their sovereignty.

Iraqi sovereignty has been severely degraded over the past several decades and again, the extinction level event for it was the U.S. invasion in 2003.

[10:35:00]

Now Iran has supplanted the United States as the main outside foreign power in Iraq and Iraqis are revolting against that foreign presence. They're

still expressing the hope and the belief in a sovereign Iraqi nation.

ANDERSON: Let me just read you -- as you are speaking, I have just received into my inbox a reaction from Haider al-Abadi, the former Prime Minister of

Iraq, and I want to quote you what he has said with reference to your reporting. He denied meeting the low-ranking officer named in these

reports. He said he was interviewed recently by "The New York Times" and wasn't asked about it. And the last point he says -- and I quote him here -

- we express our concern that some countries that claim to be friendly neighbors have their intelligence agencies trespass on Iraqi sovereignty.

We demand a clarification from this country about these allegations.

What do you make of that?

HUSSAIN: Well, in the document archive, as Mr. Abadi referred to, there's a reference to an interview with an Iranian intelligence agent with Mr. Abadi

during the period he was Prime Minister. And the Iranian agent made comments about Iraqi sovereignty which in the report indicated that Mr.

Abadi agreed with. And, you know, his statement about the presence of Iranian intelligence generally in Iraq is certainly correct. They're

heavily involved in Iraq at all levels, political, militarily and economically, something which is no surprise but has never been spelled out

in black and white the way it is today.

ANDERSON: Let me just pick you up on that one point. Because I think it's a very important point. You have suggested that there are many cultural and

religious ties between Iran and Iraq. I wonder given what we see going on in the country today, the evidence of these -- what has been leaked here

about Iranian intelligence. I wonder whether you think it is conceivable that Iran will lose its influence in Iraq going forward?

HUSSAIN: I think it's inevitable as a large neighbor of Iraq with, as you mentioned, close religious and cultural tie, Iran will have some degree of

influence in the affairs of its neighbor. What you see in the streets today are people complaining about an overweening sense of influence, covert

influence that comes over politicians through intelligence agencies. The friendly ties between Iraq and Iran, that's something which is desired by

people of both countries.

When it becomes more than friendly, it becomes hegemonic is when you see what's described in our documents, which is the influence of Iran and Iraq

behind closed doors. And this influence is not so different from the influence that United States wielded in Iraq for many years. And in fact,

in some ways less aggressive in the sense it does not come with an accommodating military presence.

So Iraqis, as I said, they're still fighting for what they've lost so many years ago which is the right to a sovereign nation that defends its borders

and has full transparency in the behavior of its government and the knowledge that its government officials represent Iraqis and not Americans,

Iranians or any other foreign power.

ANDERSON: Just very briefly, do you believe -- I'm sorry. I've been told I haven't got any time left with you. I do need to take a very short break.

We will have you back, though. Fascinating reporting. Thank you, sir.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. Just ahead, and historic palace provides the backdrop to some of Cairo's vibrant culture. A display of traditional

dance for you is coming up.

And the warmest of welcomes for English fans and players in Kosovo. More on a rare display of unity in an international football match. That after

this.

[10:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMIE SULTAN, BELLY DANCER: Cairo is unique because it's unpredictable. Egyptians love to have fun. They love dancing. They love music. The heart

and soul of Egypt is based on dance. This is the land of Raqs sharqi, of "oriental dance".

I'm Amie Sultan. I'm a dancer. Egyptian dance has many different forms. There's the oriental dance, neoclassical and the contemporary but then

there's something very special we have. It's called the Tanoura.

This is basically the area where all of the mosques meet in Cairo. This is Al-Ghuri palace. It was built in the 1500s. It used to be a caravanserai,

which is where the silk merchants and the spice merchants used to meet and they use it now as a sort of backdrop for the tenora show.

Tenora is special because it's a very spiritual dance. I guess it could be wrongly termed the whirling dervishes. Those are more Turkish and Moroccan.

But what we have here retains the spiritual form of the dance but here in Egypt they have the colored costumes they make in the special area of Cairo

called Chiama (ph) . They really turned it into a performance art.

I'm passionate about dance in general so I find any kind of dance where people are uplifted spiritually, I find that to be very special and

magical. The dancers are very well trained. They do an amazing amount of rotations. It's an incredible practice. It builds from this land so it's

just something we all share.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.

Racism in football, is, sadly, a regular occurrence. Isn't it. And English fans are not used to receiving warm welcomes when they travel abroad at

times. But it was different on Sunday. Kosovo fans gave a heartwarming welcome to the English, holding up a banner that said, welcome and respect.

"WORLD SPORT", Amanda Davis joining us with some powerful stuff, Amanda. With three years to go into the start of the Qatar World Cup in 2022, good

to see.

AMANDA DAVIS, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, incredibly heartwarming, powerful stuff, Becky. And speaking of which, I've been speaking to the CEO of Qatar

2022 who has not been mincing his words with a countdown very much on. You won't want to miss it in WORLD SPORT in a couple minutes.

ANDERSON: Fantastic. We're going to take a very short break, folks, here on CNN. Back after this.

[10:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

[11:0:00]

END