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Source: Former Aide Testified on Wrongdoing in White House; New Testimony Backs Claims of a Shadow Foreign Policy; Former Aide Testifies on Concerns about Giuliani; Trump Imposes Sanctions on Turkey for Invasion; German Club Releases Player Who Supported Invasion; Bulgaria-England Football Match Halted Twice Due to Racism; Russian President Looks to Boost Influence in Middle East. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired October 15, 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: It is 6:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. 5:00 in northern Syria and in Turkey. It's 10:00 in the morning in Washington,

D.C. I'm Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. Your two hours on CNN where we can connect the dots on the day's most important

stories. So what? Why do we care? Wherever you are watching in the world. And what a world it is this hour.

President Trump under pressure, huge pressure. At home, Democrats not missing a beat as they push ahead with the impeachment inquiry. Another

key witness set to testify on The Hill with many more to come.

And then pressure abroad. Whiplash decisions from the Trump administration, the commander in chief now set to hit Turkey with sanctions

over an invasion that only a week ago he effectively green-lit.

All right. Let's start on Capitol Hill for you with some very strong words coming out of the latest impeachment inquiry testimony. Sources tell CNN,

a former White House aide told lawmakers on Monday that she had witnessed wrongdoing in the White House regarding Ukraine. And Fiona Hill's concerns

about President Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani seemed to back up Democrats' claim of a shadow foreign policy coming out of the White House. Using

phrases like drug deal and hand grenade to describe them. More on that in a second.

The next witness in line for the hot seat is George Kent. His testimony is supposed to be getting under way right now. Kent is a current high-level

State Department official who has worked closely with Ukraine for years.

Now all of this comes as a new poll shows Americans are still split on impeachment. Slightly more than half say they are in favor of the inquiry.

But there's less support when it comes to actually removing the President. Jeremy Diamond is at the White House for you. Abby Phillip with us this

hour in Ohio where the Democrats hoping to oust President Trump at the ballot box will face off in a CNN debate just hours from now. First, I

want to get to Suzanne Malveaux. She is on Capitol Hill where, Suzanne, the action and the words coming thick and fast.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, you're absolutely right about that. All lawmakers are heading back to Washington today after

that two-week recess. And a lot of them got an earful from their constituents. They were able to avoid some of these hot topic questions,

the impeachment inquiry questions, as well as the cameras. Well that is all about to change.

So while they are returning, you have these committees, impeachment committees that are well under way with their own work. As you had

mentioned, George Kent, he is a career diplomat. He is now in the hot seat behind closed doors with those committee members. And he is really one of

the U.S. government's foremost experts when it comes to Ukraine. His name came up through a series of emails provided by the State Department last

week in which he is defending the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Yovanovitch. There was a smear campaign against her, the victim of a smear

campaign to try to get rid of her. He defends her in those emails. So they want to understand why she was actually eliminated. At the same time,

you mentioned the bombshell testimony of Fiona Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your message to congressional (INAUDIBLE) today?

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Fiona Hill testifying for nearly ten hours behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, providing House Democrats with more

information for their impeachment inquiry into President Trump's Ukraine scandal.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): When witnesses actually just show up, it advances our investigation. The arrows continue to point in just one

direction.

MALVEAUX: The top Russia adviser telling Congress she raised red flags, concerned about wrongdoing in U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine. One of

her biggest issues, Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani's involvement. And she reportedly shared other concerns with former national security

adviser John Bolton, sources tell CNN.

Hill describing a meeting attended by Bolton and U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland. The meeting on July 10th, just 15 days

before Trump's phone call with Ukraine's President.

[10:05:00]

A source telling CNN, Hill said Sondland discussed investigations at that meeting, interpreted as a reference to President Trump's call to

investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. Hill discussing what she called a rogue operation carried out by Sondland and acting chief

of staff, Mick Mulvaney. A source telling CNN she said Bolton characterized it as being like a drug deal. Urging Hill to report the July

meeting to the National Security Council's attorney.

In another conversation, a source familiar with the testimony says Hill claimed Bolton expressed disregard for Giuliani. As first reported by "The

New York Times," Bolton describing him as a hand grenade who is going to blow everybody up. Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin slamming Giuliani's

actions saying he's working against the State Department.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Rudy Giuliani has clearly been a leading force for the administration in defining a shadow foreign policy in Ukraine.

MALVEAUX: House Republicans taking President Trump's lead, focusing on attacking House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff's handling of the

impeachment inquiry.

REP. LEE ZELDIN (R-NY): Yes, this was another day in Adam Schiff's kangaroo court. The Democrats should provide Republicans and the President

exactly what they would insist if the roles were reversed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And tomorrow is Michael McKinley who is going to be testifying. He is a State Department aide, former State Department aide to Secretary

Pompeo. He resigned abruptly last week. Is expected, sources saying that he is going to be testifying about the culture of the State Department and

that the feeling is that perhaps Secretary Pompeo does not have the backs of the State Department employees. So it will be interesting to see what

he has to say.

And, of course, Becky, as you know, Thursday is going to be the big day. That's when we'll see the U.S. ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, who

really is at the key of so many different intersections, this web if you well, this shadow diplomacy in Ukraine that all of this seemingly coming

together. He will answer a lot of those questions before saying in the text messages that there was no quid pro quo in what seems to be a very

kind of manufactured, orchestrated statement after being called out on it five hours later. And then sources saying that potentially he'll say there

is a quid pro quo, but there's not a corrupt nature behind it. Perhaps there's a reasonable explanation. There are many people who believe that's

just too late -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes, fascinating. Jeremy, I want to have a look at these new poll numbers. Slightly more than half say they are in favor of the

impeachment inquiry. When people were asked if they think President Trump should be impeached and removed, support drops to 46 percent. Meantime,

the U.S. President not shying away an iota, it seems, calling at times for more foreign interference against the Bidens.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, that's absolutely right. Look, we've heard for weeks this President, as he has faced this rapidly

mounting impeachment inquiry from House Democrats centered around the fact that he asked Ukraine to investigate his political rival Joe Biden. The

President has not shied away from that issue of Joe Biden but instead focused on it. And focused on this notion that there was some kind of

corruption, that there was some kind of impropriety taking place because Joe Biden's son was on the board of this Ukrainian company. Of course,

most of the President's claims were completely unsubstantiated. He's provided no evidence to back that up.

But that doesn't mean that some legitimate questions about this appearance of impropriety at a minimum have not dogged the Bidens. And this morning

we're hearing for the first time from Joe Biden's son answering a question about whether or not sitting on that board was a mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTER BIDEN, JOE BIDEN'S SON: No, in retrospect, look. I think it was poor judgment on my part. I think there was poor judgment because I don't

believe now, when I look back on it, I know there was -- I did nothing wrong at all. However, was it poor judgment to be in the middle of

something that is a -- it's a swamp in many ways? Yes. And so, I take full responsibility for that. Did I do anything improper? No. Not in any

way. Not any way whatsoever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: Of course, whether or not that's going to change the President's attacks, the answer is likely not. But, of course, tonight there is that

big Democratic debate and certainly the Biden campaign is hoping that Hunter Biden answering some of these questions could perhaps put voters

more at ease -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Let's get -- thank you, Jeremy.

Let's get to Ohio then and to Abby Phillip. I mean, remarkably, President Donald Trump could become the first President ever to be impeached by the

House and then seek another term at the next election. Clearly those Democratic candidates tonight hoping to avoid that.

[10:10:00]

But how will this impeachment inquiry play into the race for these Democratic contenders in 2020?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Becky. It's going to be an unusual situation here at Otterbein. Where you have

candidates who are both calling for President Trump to be impeached and also saying that they want to face up against him in 2020. On this very

stage right behind me, they're all going to be lined up here, all 12 candidates on the largest debate stage in U.S. history.

And right in the middle is going to be Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren. Bernie Sanders is going to be just over on this side here, but the idea

here is that you now have, at the center of the impeachment attention, Joe Biden, the former Vice President answering those questions about his son

Hunter Biden. But he's also fighting for that top spot that he's had for much of this Democratic primary. It's been Elizabeth Warren who has been

rising steadily in the polls over the last several days, including recently in a Quinnipiac poll that put her at 30 percent. Just a few notches above

Joe Biden. So on this debate stage tonight, you're going to have these top tier candidates, Biden, Warren and Sanders really duking it out to stay

where they are. Stay at the top of the pack.

And then as you look to the far ends of this stage, a lot of these candidates are just fighting to stay in the race. Many of them polling in

the single digits. Many of them just trying to capture people's attention and get into some of these conversations. I think what you're going to see

tonight, Becky, is a lot of these candidates really starting to go after each other one on one. It may be one of the more pointed debates that

we've seen so far. Because the stakes are very high and the going is going to get tougher as we go into November and December, closer to these primary

and caucus contests.

ANDERSON: Isn't it just. Abby, always a pleasure. Thank you for that.

Inside the action for you then, do be sure to tune in for that CNN/"New York Times" Democratic Presidential debate. 12 candidates -- as Abby says

-- will take the stage tonight at 8:00 p.m. in New York City. That is 4:00 a.m. Wednesday here in Abu Dhabi for those of you who don't sleep and

8:00 a.m. in Hong Kong.

All right. Thank you to all of our reporters.

A week is a long time in geopolitics. Isn't it? Well last week, President Trump announced he was pulling American troops back from northern Syria.

Well that effectively gave Turkey the green light to take on Syrian Kurds. A key U.S. ally, of course, in the fight against ISIS. Well, now

Washington calling for a cease-fire in the area with Vice President Mike Pence set to head to Turkey soon to try to negotiate that. Overnight the

Trump administration also saying it's imposing sanctions on Ankara aimed at stopping the Turkish assault on Kurdish forces.

Meanwhile, President Trump tweeted this saying, that Syria and President Trump Bashar al Assad should protect the Kurds and fight Turkey for their

own land. We have reporters on the ground in the region. Nick Paton Walsh is in Erbil in Iraq, Arwa Damon on the Turkish/Syrian border. And Jeremy

Diamond staying with us from the White House. Stand by, Jeremy, I want to get to our guys on the ground there first.

And to you, Arwa. We've heard talk that President Trump believes that people on the ground should be sorting this out themselves. Some

sanctions. Sanctions light, a lot of people say. And a potential visit by the Vice President to Turkey. How is this all going down where you are?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pretty well, actually, Becky, if you look at it. Because President Trump had promised to destroy

Turkey economically. But this round of sanctions barely even caused the lira to hiccup and Turkey -- President Erdogan himself saying that no

matter what, this operation is going to be going forward. And as for Vice President Pence's visit, we're still waiting on specifics on that. But

it's going to be interesting to see what sort of leverage the U.S. seems to think it can bring or it can use given that by withdrawing it effectively

pulled itself out of and off of any sort of negotiating table inside Syria and handed that over fully to the Russians.

And that's really what we're seeing unfolding in the Syrian battlefield. Russia is stepping in to act as mediator between the Syrian government's

army. The army of President Bashar al Assad as well as the Turks and the Arab Syrian forces that they have allied themselves with.

[10:15:00]

You know, Russia has emerged from all of this, both as the playmaker and as the kingmaker. And the U.S. has effectively, stunningly, one must say,

sidelined itself.

ANDERSON: Nick, you were on the ground during the worst of this chaos, as it were, over the past, what, 72 hours. You're on the other side of the

border now as Washington calls for a cease-fire in the area. Realistic?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the problem, I think, is, no. That's a far reach simply because of the lack of trust

between all the people they're asking to stop their current activity with the Syrian Kurds they've just betrayed quite startingly. So they won't be

really listening for American advice at this point. Very suspicious of them. And they've already gone over really to the Syrian regime side for

assistance with Russia as their backer.

The Turkish -- as you heard from Arwa there -- just moving ahead with this frankly and hearing the threat of economic obliteration as actually turning

up as sanctions against the defense minister and ministry of energy as well.

So it's quite extraordinary, frankly, how we're still at this point where the Trump administration is unable to grasp a policy on this that actually

deters people from action. While the troops on the ground appear to be making a precipitous withdrawal. Now we know that they've left from the

west of the Euphrates River out of the town called Manjib. The spokesperson for forces here said they've begun their withdrawal. Which

would clearly suggest that it's quite a way already advanced if they are consolidating on particular bases.

But the key question for those on the ground is what comes now of Syrian regime forces. They are very close to the Kurds in a bit of a land grab

frankly in terms of trying to shore up Syrian Kurdish positions. And we've also heard from the Russian defense ministry that it's Russian military

police who are in that area around Manbij where Turkish backed forces and Syrian Kurdish and Syrian regime forces risk touching each other, risk

coming into contact as Russian police who were doing the kind of -- not mediating but making sure there's deconfliction.

So the United States out of the picture here simply because of the phone call between Donald Trump and President Erdogan on Sunday. That has caused

us to come to this moment, and it's left a quite remarkable sea change on the ground to occur in literally a matter of 48, 72 hours -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Jeremy is still with us at the White House. Thank you, Nick. U.S. House Republican Liz Cheney has linked both of what are our top

stories. Here's what she told Fox News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): What the Democrats are doing themselves to try to weaken this President is part of this. It was not an accident that the

Turks chose this moment to roll across the border. And I think the Democrats have got to pay very careful attention to the damage that they're

doing with the impeachment proceedings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well that is a bold claim, Jeremy.

DIAMOND: It certainly is a bold claim and, frankly, it flies in the face of what most officials here, including Republicans, feel is, in fact,

responsible for this sea change on the ground. And that is that the President of the United States, essentially gave the green light to

Turkey's President Erdogan to move forward with this invasion. When the White House press secretary announced that President Trump had spoken on

the phone with Erdogan a little bit over a week ago, it said Turkey is moving forward with this offensive. It did not say the United States

condemns this move. Does not want Turkey to move forward with this. It simply allowed it to happen. And now what we're seeing inside this

administration is really an attempt to play catch up.

Yesterday the President announcing several sanctions on some key Turkish officials and previewing the possibility of some more. We didn't hear from

the President himself but who we did hear from was the Vice President of the United States who is calling for a cease-fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States of America wants Turkey to stop the invasion. To implement an immediate

cease-fire and to begin to negotiate with Kurdish forces in Syria to bring an end to the violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And now, Vice President Mike Pence is actually expected to lead a delegation to Turkey to attempt to broker that cease-fire. But, of course,

Becky, as you well know, so much has already changed on the ground. And whatever attempts this administration is now making to try and restore the

status quo pre-Turkey's invasion are likely to be futile. We already have Russian troops, Russian control of parts of northern Syria -- Syrian

government forces also there, now allied with the Kurd -- who were previously allied with the United States. So the situation on the ground

has dramatically changed as our correspondents on the ground were just saying there. And clearly, it will be very difficult for the United States

to regain any kind of foothold after this last week -- Becky.

[10:20:00]

ANDERSON: Thank you, Jeremy. I want to get back to Arwa. Because U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin spoke about these sanctions, these U.S.

sanctions against Turkey yesterday. Let's just have a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Definitely not too late. This is a complicated situation. A NATO ally, Turkey is a full member of NATO, and

an ally of ours, who is now hiding over border issues with the Kurds, who have helped us with ISIS. It's a complicated situation. And we're

monitoring it, as I said, very carefully.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, he's choosing his words carefully there as opposed to perhaps his boss, President Trump. Remember, he talked about killing the

Turkish economy only five or six days ago should they get out of hand. Well, to most people's minds, the Turks have got out of hand. One could

argue that these sanctions have made this more complicated -- Arwa.

DAMON: Maybe to a certain degree, Becky, but I also think that Turkey is now in a position where its position is significantly more powerful than

that of the United States when it comes to what America is hoping to accomplish with this, you know, cease-fire it's asking for.

Look, if a cease-fire is going to be negotiated inside Syria given who is fighting there right now, it's not the Americans who are going to negotiate

it. They are not in touch with the Syrian regime. They have no leverage over Russia. They have no leverage over Iran. They have very little, if

any, leverage over Turkey if as far as they're willing to go, is these sanctions -- that I was saying earlier -- barely caused the lira to move.

Remember, America and Turkey's relationship has been very tenuous over the last years. You have the issue of the S400s. America was livid over that

and basically suspended Turkey from the F-35 program but didn't make the Turks stop with their purchase.

Turkey has, to a certain degree, really begun to turn towards Russia and Moscow and Ankara are very good at focusing on what goals they can achieve

together and then agreeing to disagree when they have their differences. And right now, if a cease-fire is going to be negotiated inside Syria, it's

Russia that is going to be doing the negotiations.

So, unless America is willing to really put a lot more on the table, it doesn't necessarily have the ability to alter the course of what is

happening. And when you look at what's going on right now with the way Trump has been tweeting, with the various different conflicting statements

that have been coming out from the White House, one can't help but get a sense that every other player in this conflict, Becky, is looking at a very

complicated, multidimensional game of chess while America is still trying to figure out how to play Middle East checkers.

ANDERSON: Yes. Spot on. I mean, spot on with your analysis. Not just on that and the metaphors but your analysis with regard to Turkey and Russia.

To all of you, thank you.

Well "The New York Times" quoting a senior U.S. official who claims that Turkey is holding 50 American nuclear weapons hostage -- in averted

comments, that's a quote -- and they are based near Syria. Cold War-era nukes are said to be at the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey as

Washington threatens to impose sanctions on Ankara. The official suggests that President Erdogan will use them as leverage over the U.S.

So connecting that all up, the Americans are apparently worried that weapons they put in to intimidate Russia may now be used as a bargaining

chip by Turkey, who Russia itself now sells advanced weapons to as Ankara moves into northern Syria.

The Turkish invasion is resounding around the world, including, of course, on the football pitch. German club FC St. Pauli has released Turkish

midfielder Cenk Sahin after he supported the invasion in an Instagram post. In a statement, the famously progressive club said it concluded that such

support was counter to the club's values. The team says it will honor Sahin's contract but will allow him to train with and play for other clubs.

While all this goes on, a very important Russian visit into the Middle East. The UAE and Saudi Arabia roll out the red carpet for Russia's

President. A reflection of Moscow's rising influence in the Middle East. That is coming up.

[10:25:03]

Plus, racism rears its ugly head in football yet again. This time in a match between Bulgaria and England in Sophia. The leaders of both nations

now speaking out. More on that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- in Sophia. Now Popov is the Bulgarian captain. And we can only assume and we hope very much hope he's saying to his fans,

behave. Behave yourself. This is unacceptable. This is a game of football.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well European football match once again overshadowed by racism. And the head of Bulgarian football has resigned less than 24 hours after a

Euro 2020 qualifier between England and Bulgaria was stopped twice because of racial abuse directed at English players. Bulgaria's Prime Minister had

personally called for the resignation of the country's top football chief. Despite the taunts, let me tell you, England did win, 6-0. "WORLD SPORT"

Don Riddell joining us from CNN center. Great result, but, Don, that was not the story of this football match, was it?

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Quite right, Becky. Good performance from England, an awful performance from Bulgaria both on and off the pitch. But

the score was completely overshadowed by everything in the stands.

Sadly it was not a complete surprise that this happened. Bulgaria stadium was already half closed because of racist incidents in their previous

matches against Kosovo in the Czech Republic. The England players and their manager had kind of anticipated that something like this might

happen. And that's exactly what did happen.

It played out several times in the first half as you correctly pointed out there. The game stopped twice. A stadium announcement, the first time,

urging the supporters to stop their behavior. You saw the Bulgarian captain at halftime plead with the supporters. There were more racist

taunts heard in the second half, but England, I think at that point, decided that they made their point and they wanted to carry on and complete

the game.

But a very, very dark night for European football. Racism in European football has been on the rise in the last few years. That has been well

documented. And afterwards, England's manager Gareth Southgate said that overall, he was proud of the way his team handed things both on and off the

field.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARETH SOUTHGATE, ENGLAND MANAGER: Sadly, my players, because of their experiences in our own country, are hardened to racism. So they actually

are in the dressing room smiling because they've played so well. They also know they've made a statement. And they want the focus to be on the

football.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:30:00]

RIDDELL: Gareth Southgate and also the chairman of the English Football Association recognizing that England has its own problems with racism.

It's not just in Bulgaria and eastern Europe. Today the President of UEFA, European football's governing body, Aleksander Ceferin, has called on

national governments to do more to stem the rise in nationalism. But clearly this is a major problem and football's governing body needs to get

a grip on it.

ANDERSON: Absolutely. You are absolutely right. Football's governing body needs to get a grip on it. You heard it here first. Tonight, this

hour. You've heard that before, folks. Thank you, Don.

A picture worth a thousand words. Look at this. A great photo from the England team's official photographer. For a story on racism in football

that isn't so gloomy, do head to the website to find out how Everton fans showed solidarity with one of their latest signings who has experienced

racist abuse and a lack of support in his native Italy. That's all at CNN.com.

Still to come this hour -- flags and fanfare for a regional -- rising regional superpower. Russia's President gets the right royal treatment

here in the UAE. We bring you that story up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching connect the world with me Becky Anderson. It's just after half past 6:00 here in the UAE. And if you are

just joining us, you are more than welcome.

This hour we're taking a close look at what's become a very uncertain period in the presidency of Donald Trump. He has spent the last few weeks

venting his anger over the Democrats' impeachment probe singling out the lawmakers leading the inquiry. Add to that what could best be described as

political whiplash over his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria. And that led of course to a very quick Turkish invasion with U.S.

allied Kurds targeted and bipartisan anger at home. It's also given a big diplomatic opening to Russia's President.

And Vladimir Putin is spending part of this week courting American allies here in the Middle East. Today, the Russian President in Abu Dhabi on a

state visit following a stop in Saudi Arabia. Yesterday has been more than a decade since President Putin has been on state visits to either of these

places. Well, much has changed in Abu Dhabi since his last visit here in 2007.

[10:35:00]

A Louvre, theme parks, luxury hotels and airport terminals and shimmering all of it in an ever-expanding global city. But more significantly, the

Gulf kingdom's relationship with Russia, whose regional clout only continues to grow as the U.S. seemingly leaves the door wide open for a new

superpower in the Middle East. And that brings me to my next report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON (voice-over): Touching down to a fanfare in the United Arab Emirates after a 21-gun salute in Saudi Arabia on Monday. President

Putin's second official visit to Abu Dhabi underlying Moscow's growing economic and strategic interest in the region.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We see the United Arab Emirates as one of our very close and promising partners. And I have

to say that, as is the case with Saudi Arabia, our partnership is vigorously developing in all areas.

ANDERSON: That partnership sealed with a visit to Moscow by Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, last year only continued to grow

with Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala, committing investments of around $6 billion in Russia in renewables, infrastructure, ports and

airports. And with the recent launch of the first ever Emirate astronaut to the international space station aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket, clear

signs of a promising partnership where the sky, it seems, really is the limit.

But experts here say beyond a burgeoning trading partner, it's Russia's increasing strategic influence that counts. And nowhere might that be more

important than Moscow's relationship with Iran. In a Gulf region simmering on the brink of conflict, the potential for Mr. Putin to play peacemaker is

a compelling one. The founder of the regional think tank, the Beirut Institute, Raghida Dergham, writing recently in the national newspaper,

what we may be witnessing as a result of the initiatives taken by Mr. Macron and Mr. Putin is a period of relative calm in the region, at least

for the time being.

ANDREI FEDEROV, CHAIRMAN, FUND FOR POLITICAL RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS: For us, of course, the main thing is now to prevent a kind of military clash

between Iran, Saudi Arabia and United States because it will not be limited to a regional conflict. It will immediately involve Russia, U.S. and many

other countries.

ANDERSON: President Putin's trip to the Gulf comes against the backdrop of a new chapter in Syria's more than eight-year war. Where Russian-backed

Assad forces are now swarming the U.S.-backed Kurdish controlled north border after Russia brokered a deal between the two foes, as Turkey

advances its offensive into Syria. This major shift in alliances coming as President Trump leaves the door of diplomatic responsibility wide open as

he withdraws U.S. troops from northern Syria.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're doing jobs, frankly, that Europe should be doing. We're doing jobs that Russia should be doing,

that Iran should be doing, that Iraq, Turkey, Syria should be doing. They should be doing this. We shouldn't be doing it. We're 7,000 miles away.

ANDERSON: How ironic then, if Donald Trump's Syrian cop-out, a reality check about the limits of American power in the Middle East region provides

a vacuum for Moscow's growing clout with Russia rising as the new queen on the Middle East's fractured chess board.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, there when President Putin arrived in Abu Dhabi, CNN's senior international correspondent Sam Kylie who joins me now. And you and

I remarking that this, of course, in President Trump is the second unreliable U.S. President for this region. And perhaps, therefore, no one

should be surprised that it's a region that is concerned about its alliances with America. The conceit of that piece, of course, is President

Putin and Moscow. Or are President Putin and Moscow in a position to fill a vacuum here.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, I think I mean if you look back to the Obama administration, the Obama

administration's failure to deal with the cross red line of the use of chemical weapons, threat of bombing or whatever he was going to do and then

didn't follow it up. Led originally then to the Russians to feel much more confident about intervening militarily on the side of Bashar al Assad.

Then you had Trump signaling so frequently that he wanted out of all of these conflicts across the Middle East. Nearly doing so several months

ago. Rattling the Europeans. I remember talking to British officials, angry beyond words -- beyond printable words anyway -- at having their

spies shred equipment and destroy equipment on the ground last time there was an announcement of withdrawal from Syria.

[10:40:03]

Then this precipitous moment. All of this has been signaled and all of it plays into the hands of Vladimir Putin. He's simply stepping into that

space.

ANDERSON: Sam Kylie's with us and will be, of course, throughout the week. Sam, thanks for joining us. You will want to stay with us for the next

hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I will be talking with the U.S. Democratic Congressman Anthony Brown who had a tour of duty with the U.S. Army in

Iraq. He's vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee and he has some very critical things to say about President Trump's decision to

withdraw troops from Syria.

Well ahead on the program -- LeBron James weighs in on the feud between the NBA and China. What he says about the general manager, who said now that

infamous Hong Kong tweet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, he is a basketball superstar and what he says counts -- at least to his millions and millions of fans. And now LeBron James speaking

out about a dispute. A dispute between the NBA and China in which the Houston Rockets' general manager tweeted in support of the Hong Kong pro-

democracy movement. That angered Beijing. Speaking to reporters before a game, the basketball star criticized the manager as being misinformed about

the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, LOS ANGELES LAKERS FORWARD: You know, we all see what they did. Not only did for our league, but for all of us in America, for people

in China as well. And sometimes you have to think through things that you say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, he has a right, but Rhiannon -- from "WORLD SPORT" who is joining us now -- he's getting some backlash over his opinion, isn't he?

RHIANNON JONES, WORLD SPORT: He certainly is, Becky. LeBron James is getting backlash. And he's not the only one suffering backlash today.

Plenty of that coming up on "WORLD SPORT" after England players with a target of racist abuse in Bulgaria, including one resignation -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes, I heard that. We look forward to hearing about it. We are taking a very short break, folks. Back after this.

[10:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

JONES: -- Perhaps, Becky, we should now call him CR 700.

ANDERSON: Very good. Thank you.

Well is not quieting down in Washington either. Stick with us folks. I'll be bringing you the latest on the impeachment inquiry, Turkey's invasion of

Syria and an awful lot more. That is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END