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Weekend Drone Attack Targeted Netanyahu's Private Residence; U.S. Defense Secretary Austin Announces $400 Million to Ukraine; Hurricane Oscar Impacts Cuba Amid Repeated Blackouts; Turkish Cleric Fethullah Gulen Dies at 83; New York Liberty Claim Elusive WNBA Championship. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired October 21, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: This is the skyline of Beirut, where U.S. Special Envoy Amos Hochstein is in talks with Lebanese officials

racing to find a diplomatic solution as Israel promises to ramp up attacks on Hezbollah. It is 04:00 p.m. in Beirut. It's 05:00 p.m. here in Abu

Dhabi. I'm Eleni Giokos. I'm in for my colleague, Becky Anderson.

Also coming up this hour, the United Nations warns Israel may be destroying the Palestinian population in Northern Gaza through death and displacement.

Plus, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin makes an unannounced visit to Kyiv. And with just over two weeks to go until the U.S. election, Elon Musk

is offering a million dollars each day to registered voters in battleground states, but is it legal?

All right, welcome to the show. And let's check in on the stock markets in New York. It will open in around 30 minutes from now, and as you can see,

the DOW futures all pointing to a negative start, S&P 500 also in the negative, so too is the NASDAQ. Keep in mind, this is after six weeks of

gains, and in fact, the S&P and the DOW hit record highs on Friday. We'll check in on those numbers in about 30 minutes.

Now, Israel is expanding its war against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. All right, launched a series of strikes on a financial association linked

to Hezbollah. Until now, Israel had been focusing on military targets. The country's foreign minister vowing to hit Hezbollah until it collapses.

Meantime, the U.N. warns Israel may be destroying the Palestinian population in Northern Gaza, where its renewed operation against Hamas is

now in its third week. CNN's Matthew Chance has the latest from the ground, and we must warn you that some of the images in this report may be

disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Israeli forces patrolling the labyrinth of narrow streets in the Central

Gaza Strip. These the latest images from the Israeli military. What they say is their continued activity amid the devastation to dismantle Hamas.

To the south in Rafah, where the Hamas Leader was recently killed, drone footage of strikes and what Israel says are more Hamas fighters and

infrastructure. While across Gaza, civilians are paying a heavy price. At this hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip an influx of casualties from a

new Israeli strike at Beit Lahiya, where Palestinian health officials say dozens of people, including women and children, were killed.

Among the shrouded bodies of her family, this woman calls her father to grieve their loss. I swear, dad, nobody is left, she sobs. Israel says the

casualty figures are exaggerated, and that they operate against Hamas in a precise and targeted manner. But eye witnesses at the scene say the Israeli

air strikes felt like an earthquake.

It was just Wednesday when an Israeli drone captured the final moments of the Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar's life. His killing, fueling hopes of a

hostage release, even a cease fire in Gaza and beyond. In fact, the region seems to be plunging further into chaos, with Israel stepping up strikes.

Pressing deeper into neighboring Lebanon, hitting what it says are strongholds of Iranian backed Hezbollah like here the town of Nabatieh in

Southern Lebanon. Back in Israel, Hezbollah rockets have been striking the country's north. One drone even hitting near the Israeli Prime Minister's

private house in the coastal town of Caesarea.

He called it an assassination attempt by agents of Iran, vowing to press ahead with military action. Iran denies involvement, and Hezbollah has not

claimed responsibility.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We're going to win this war. CHANCE: So, will something deter you?

NETANYAHU: No.

CHANCE (voice-over): Amid fears of an even wider, escalating war. All sides seem bent on pressing ahead. Matthew Chance, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Well, it is against this backdrop that U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, heads to the region today.

[09:05:00]

CNN's Kylie Atwood is at the State Department to give us an update. Kylie, good to see you, as we saw in Matthew Chance's report, all sides in this

conflict appear to be digging in. Is there any hope that Blinken can make progress on a potential cease fire?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is certainly a critical trip. You heard from U.S. officials, including President Biden

himself, last week, that they believe following the death of Sinwar creates an opportunity to end the conflict, particularly when it comes to the

ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel.

Now they're going to have to test that proposition, see if they can get Israel on board, see if they can get other Middle Eastern partners on board

to try and support that effort. And so, the State Department said that he's going to be focused on, of course, bringing an end to the war in Gaza,

releasing hostages and leaving Palestinian suffering.

So, we'll watch and see what these conversations look like, because at this point, the comments that we have seen from Israeli officials, particularly,

of course, Prime Minister Netanyahu, don't indicate that they are barreling towards an immediate or near-term end to the conflict between Hamas and

Israel.

Of course, Netanyahu said that the day after Sinwar was the day after Hamas, but they clearly still think that there's work to be done in Gaza.

And so, we'll watch and see if Blinken in his conversations can convince them to actually push towards release of hostages and also a cease fire and

also post-war conflict planning, which essentially the State Department has said is the day after plans.

They've talked about that for a long time, but we really haven't heard any specifics when it comes to what that plan would actually look like. And so

that's why it's critical that the secretary of state is not only going to Israel, but also going to other countries in the region to try and discuss

how they could potentially contribute to those plans, which he has been trying to push kind of quietly behind the scenes for a while.

Now, this is a really critical trip for the Biden Administration. It's about two weeks before presidential elections here in the United States.

They feel like they could have some momentum, but this, of course, as I said, will really test that proposition.

GIOKOS: Kylie Atwood, good to see you. Thank you so much. Well, we have seen the toll this conflict is taking on the people who live in Gaza,

Lebanon and Israel. But Israel soldiers are also paying a price fighting against an invisible enemy after their time on the battlefield is over.

CNN takes a closer look into cases of post-traumatic stress among military personnel returning from combat, anger, insomnia and even suicide are

turning up among those who have come back home. We'll look at the problem and what's being done about it in our newsletter, "Meanwhile in the Middle

East", and you can just scan the QR code on your screen or log on to our app.

All right, 15 days to go until the election, Former U.S. President Donald Trump using some of his final days on the campaign trail to deliver vulgar

remarks about a legendary professional golfer in front of a crowd of supporters. Now, Trump's comments about the late Arnold Palmer shot people

on both sides of the aisle and came during a speech over the weekend in Palmer's hometown in the battle ground state of Pennsylvania. Take a

listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But Arnold Palmer was all man, I say that it all due respect to women, and

I love women, but this guy, this guy, this is a guy that was all man. When he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there they said, Oh

my God, that's unbelievable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, CNN's Senior Political Analyst Mark Preston joins us now from Washington. Mark, good to see you. Honestly pretty remarkable comments

coming through from Trump from the rally over the weekend. But do these comments really matter?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, remarkable in the sense that he said them, unremarkable in the sense that he said them right,

because we are so used to this now, Donald Trump has pushed the boundaries of decorum. We certainly seen that on the campaign trail.

But to your point, is he going to help them where it will help them with is trying to get some of these -- of voters, folks who support him, who are

die hard Trump fans, who like him but may not go to the polls. That is who he's reaching out to when he talks in that kind of language.

Who he's turning off, though, are the Republican women, the women who are on the edge about whether they can support Donald Trump for president

because he is the leader of their party.

[09:10:00]

Or do they leave the party and do they go with Kamala Harris, because they feel like she is a better representative of the United States, especially

when you see her, when you see him saying things like that.

GIOKOS: Quite importantly, as well, we saw Trump speaking to Al Arabiya.

PRESTON: Right.

GIOKOS: It's owned by the Saudi government. It's a deviation for speaking to western media, I want you to give me a sense of whether he's trying to

appeal to a different market. What message, frankly, is he sending?

PRESTON: Right so here, so traditionally, what you would happen in a U.S. political election, a lot of money would be spent on the traditional four

major networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox. Lot of ads would be running on there. A lot of ads would be running here on CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, any of

the cables.

However, what we are seeing now is this new way of reaching voters, and that's because of really the explosion of podcasts and of non-traditional

media folks. Folks are making names for themselves on YouTube. Folks are making their names themselves through podcasts, the Joe Rogans of the

world, the Jordan Petersons of the world, the -- brothers of the world.

That is what Donald Trump is doing. Now, this interview that he had with Al Arabiya is interesting because it is a foreign entity, which wouldn't seem

to be that he is reaching out to anybody, other than trying to speak directly to the Saudi government, and that's what he might have been doing

there, because I don't think there's very many votes over in Riyadh right now for Donald Trump, let alone for Kamala Harris.

GIOKOS: Yeah. Good point there. Mark Preston, good to see you. Thank you so much.

PRESTON: Thanks.

GIOKOS: A new today, an explosive and damning report from the U.S. House Task Force investigating the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

Now this outlines security failures ahead of the shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The task force calls the events of July 13th,

quote, preventable.

CNN's National Security Reporter Zachary Cohen has the latest from Washington. Zachary, give us a sense of the findings in this report.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, yet another damning assessment of those security failures at Donald Trump's July 13th rally.

And this report includes new testimony from local officers, where they describe, in their own words, those chaotic moments from when local

officers first spotted the shooter at Donald Trump's rally to the moment that shots rang out.

And that includes also the moment when they first realized that Thomas Crooks had a gun that's before shots were fired. One officer describes

popping his head up onto that roof and shouting, an AR! an AR! He has an AR-15, referring to that automatic rifle.

And yet it's shocking, because this report concludes that no evidence has been found by this bipartisan task force that that message ever reached

Trump's detail before the shots were fired. I mean, speaks to the broader communication breakdown right that occurred at this rally.

And what Secret Service has been tasked with trying to fix at a time when we are in the peak election part of the election cycle, it's really raising

questions about the Secret Service is ability to continue to protect not only Donald Trump, but also Kamala Harris, as they are on the campaign

throughout these large events, large outdoor events, in a lot of cases, that present similar challenges to what Donald Trump's rally and Butler

did.

But it's also increasing pressure on Secret Service. There was an independent panel convened by the Department of Homeland Security that

recommended a complete overhaul of the Secret Service leadership in the wake of their investigation into the security failures at Trump's Butler

rally, that's more of a long-term recommendation.

But here in the next two weeks, as Election Day approaches, Secret Service is under immense pressure to ramp up security, and has ramped up security

around Donald Trump. Ultimately, though, these failures, like the ones detailed in this report, still raise lingering questions about their

ability to appropriately protect Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

GIOKOS: All right. Zachary Cohen, thanks for that. Now the U.S. Defense Secretary is in Kyiv announcing a new aid package, what Ukraine will

receive and what it means for relations between the countries. Also ahead, like protests in Cuba, people take to the streets angry over perpetual

power blackouts as the hurricane makes landfall. A live report ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

GIOKOS: Welcome back. Now U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has announced a new $400 million aid package for Ukraine during his visit to Kyiv. The

package will include more ammunition, as well as rockets. His announcement visit now comes with barely two weeks to go before Americans go to the

polls.

And the future of U.S. Aid to Ukraine is widely thought to be hanging on their choice. Last month, Donald Trump declining to say whether he wanted

Ukraine to win the war. Clare Sebastian is following developments from London for us. Clare, good to see you. Can you give us a sense of the size

of this new aid package, and also the significance coming through just a couple of weeks before U.S. elections?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Eleni, 400 million will certainly be very welcome by Ukraine. It's the third package in the last month, and

of a similar size, and all of those were bigger than we seen in the months prior to that, the Biden Administration seems to be, in the words of one

State Department official.

Emptying out all the congressionally approved funding for Ukraine in an effort to secure a sort of long-term package of aid ahead of the election,

not only funding, but also drawdowns from the Pentagon's own stocks, which is what we see here, will include ammunition 155 millimeter, which has been

the lifeblood of this war, anti-tank weapons, armored vehicles, the things, the kinds of things that Ukraine desperately needs on the front lines.

But I think this visit is about much more than a single aid package. This is very likely the last time a senior U.S. official will be in Ukraine

ahead of the U.S. election. An election that really is existential for Ukraine, given the concern around the rhetoric that they've heard from

Former President Trump, not willing to say that he wants Ukraine to win, calling Zelenskyy repeatedly the best salesman on earth.

All of that extremely concerning to Ukraine. So, I think they will be looking for sort of long-term reassurances, an idea of the level of

bipartisan support in Congress and will continue to lobby for more aid. Air defenses will be very high on the agenda. It's now more newsworthy in

Ukraine when Russia does not fire a barrage of drones overnight than when it does.

And we saw 116 attack drones fired Ukraine overnight into this morning as Lloyd Austin was on his way in. That of course, in addition to the question

of whether the U.S. and several of Ukraine's other allies will relax restrictions on using western long-range missiles on Russian soil.

So, there is a lot up for debate. And then, of course, you get on to the issue of whether NATO might be willing to extend an invitation. So far,

we're not seeing any sign of that, but it is a key tenet of Ukraine's victory plan, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yeah. Clare, I want to talk about Moldova. Now authorities, they are counting the final votes in a referendum for the small, former Soviet

Union Republic to join the EU by 2030. Let's talk about those preliminary results. It's a very small margin, but just over a fraction of 50 percent

so again, very small, looks like they are pro joining the EU. Give me a sense of what's going on there and how significant this referendum is?

SEBASTIAN: Yeah, Moldova, a very tiny post-Soviet country, population of around 3.5 million people which borders Ukraine and its politics already

divisive before the war have been really put on a knife edge by this war. On the one hand, it gained EU candidate status when Ukraine did in June of

2022.

And on the other hand, it is seeing an increasing level of Russian influence in this election, a case in point the pro-EU Incumbent Maia

Sandu.

[09:20:00]

This was the presidential election, and on the same day that referendum on enshrining a path to EU membership in the Constitution. She has failed to

avoid a runoff on November 3, in addition to only gaining that very slim margin of yes votes in that referendum.

So, it is an unnerving time, and there is evidence in the lead up to this of Russian interference, a Russian backed scheme to buy votes. Take a

listen to a spokesperson for the EU Commission on this topic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER STANO, EU SPOKESPERSON: We were watching very closely the votes, both votes, the referendum and the presidential elections in Moldova. Moldova is

a very important partner of the European Union. We noted that this vote took place under unprecedented interference and intimidation by Russia and

its proxies aiming to destabilize the democratic processes in the Republic of Moldova.

This is a long-term effort that we have observed a long time ago. The most recent examples include the allegations about vote buying, bussing of the

voters, the proofs that we have from Moldovan authorities about the fact that votes have been, or there were attempts made to buy votes, then the

huge propaganda from Russia or Russian proxies spread in Moldova.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So, you pretty stark words there from that spokesperson for the EU Commission. This, despite the small size of Moldova, is something being

very closely watched, and certainly raises the stakes of what is happening in Ukraine. As for the Kremlin, well, they've denied and dismissed these

allegations. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, saying today that the results raise many questions, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yeah, really interesting. I mean, look, we said this is a tight result. It is, however, being seen as a blow to President Sandu and her

pro-EU stance. Just explain how this could impact her campaign for a second term.

SEBASTIAN: Yeah. I mean, she is someone -- she's been in power in Moldova since 2020, and really sort of ended a run of Russian backed leaders in

that country now, 32 years independent from the Soviet Union. So, she's trying to be -- been trying to break the mold, to bring in reforms and

corruption, all of that.

So, she represents, really this pro-EU future for Moldova. So, in some ways, that referendum was almost more important than the presidential

election itself. And I think she will now have, over the next week and a half before that runoff, an uphill battle to sort of rebuild that campaign,

but she has been talking in very stark terms about this alleged Russian interference in the campaign, calling it an assault on democracy, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Clare Sebastian, thank you so much for that update. Good to see you. I want to get you up to speed now on some of the stories that are on

our radar right now. King Charles heckled by a lawmaker after wrapping up a speech to the Australian Parliament during a visit to Canberra.

Senator Lidia Thorpe shouted, you are not my king, as she was escorted away by security in the speech. The king acknowledged Australia's first nations,

people who lived on the land before British settlers. At least one person has died after a wave of unprecedented rain and flooding across Italy.

Parts of Northern Italy are worst impacted, with many people trapped in their homes and others missing in Bologna. More than 2000 people have been

evacuated, and 15 rivers have exceeded their maximum threshold. In Havana, people banned pots and pans in the dark early Monday, protesting the Cuban

government's failure to restore power.

The island has endured repeated blackouts since Friday, when a major power plant failed. Cubans are also dealing with impacts from Hurricane Oscar,

which made landfall Sunday over Eastern Cuba as a Category 1 storm. Now live to Havana and CNN's Patrick Oppmann, standing by for us. Patrick, good

to see you. How unusual are these protests?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are unusual in the sense the people who are going on in the street in -- with pots and pans are taking

big risk. The President of Cuba just last night, although I'm not sure how many people saw him, because he was on TV and we don't have power, or it

certainly didn't last night.

He said that people doing what he called acts of vandalism would face severe consequences, like we've seen in the past when people protest. So,

for people to do that, they really have nothing left to lose. And we were going around last night, talking to people in the streets, and many people

told us their food had already spoiled.

[09:25:00]

They were feeling increasingly desperate. Others were taking a good stride. We're playing dominoes. Had a good sense of humor about it this morning,

once again, power has been restored, and luckily in more areas than officials previously have been able to do so.

So, they were saying about 50 percent of Havana, which is great, but of course, you have to remember that throughout this power has been restored

briefly, and that it comes crashing down yesterday when we lost power, it was a fourth such total outage for this island.

It really is something unprecedented, even in the island that is used to black out. So, officials have been positive, saying that it is just a

question of getting these different pockets back online and then getting the entire system back online. But of course, they have not been able to do

that just yet, and tempers are running short.

GIOKOS: Yeah, absolutely. And we also know that schools have been closed until Thursday. The question now becomes, how quickly can they restore the

entire system, and whether it can get back up and running effectively, and what the ramifications are of the hurricane and how that's playing into

this wider story?

OPPMANN: You know, I always say when you cover Cuba, you have to distinguish between what the government says and what they do. So, there

was a press conference yesterday where the minister of energy said, you know, we're getting the power back up. You know, by Monday, everyone will

be connected, which seemed very, very positive.

And about two hours later, there was another total collapse. You know, for the first time, we had power in our office. We're on generator right now.

And then, you know, about an hour later, the entire country was yet again, in the dark. So, you know, in terms of the hurricane, yes, that does

complicate efforts, because one of this country's major power plants is in Eastern Cuba.

So, you know, anytime you ever heard have a hurricane, even though this just hit off, really the Eastern Coast, it complicates efforts. It's

demanding resources. They don't have despair at this moment. So, we are seeing officials quite concerned more than at any other time, I think,

really in the past, because they know they can't go on.

People, they need to have water. They need to have food. They can't have their food spoiling. There are many, many people who are a meal away from

going hungry here, and it's becoming a more and more desperate situation.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

OPPMANN: We hope the power that it's been restored will stay online.

GIOKOS: Well, Patrick, is that the sound of a generator I hear in the background to keep you live on air?

OPPMANN: Yes -- love it. It's our generator. It's behaved beautifully all weekend long.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

OPPMANN: Nothing but love for this machine --

GIOKOS: It's very familiar.

OPPMANN: And, yes, coming from South Africa, you know the sound.

GIOKOS: Yeah, very familiar.

OPPMANN: Well, you know --

GIOKOS: Yes --

OPPMANN: -- how it is when you're on the sixth floor to get the diesel up here.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

OPPMANN: I have a great staff that takes care of us and has kept us on air throughout the weekend, so that thanks to them.

GIOKOS: Well, good to see. Patrick Oppmann there. Thank you. Right still ahead, Elon Musk says he's giving away a million dollars a day to a lucky

voter from battleground states. But is that legal? We'll take a look in just a moment. And a controversial Turkish cleric has died, we'll look at

Fethullah Gulen's life and legacy right after the short break. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi, and you're watching "Connect the World". Let's check in on how the U.S. markets are faring.

They opened a few seconds ago. Do we have the markets? No, we do not have the markets. But I can see them on my screen, and they're all in the red.

We'll bring you those down those numbers a little later. Right, moving on now, and the world's richest man has a new idea to engage registered

voters, cold hard cash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, TECH BILLIONAIRE: Every day from now until the election, we're giving out a million-dollar prize, that is, and all you have to do is sign

a petition in support of the Constitution. It's very straight forward. You don't even have to vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, that is Elon Musk trying to get signatures for a petition that, in his words, supports the First and Second amendments. His

announcement over the weekend in Pennsylvania has the state's governor wondering if that is even legal. CNN's Marshall Cohen joining us now with

the details.

Marshall, good to see you. Give me a sense of how Elon Musk could be tech, potentially be pushing legal boundaries with a staggering $1 million prize.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Hey, Eleni. Well, it may not be legal, and I'll explain why, but let me be totally clear up front. I am not saying

Elon Musk is going to be locked up or put on trial. What I am saying is that some respected scholars who study election law for a living saw what

he did and immediately raised legal objections.

So, you just played that clip of Musk saying that the prize will be given to people who sign his petition which affirms their support for the First

and Second Amendment, the right to free speech and the right to bear arms. But honestly, that's not all you need to do to possibly win the money.

If you look at the fine print on Musk's super PAC website, it says that you must be a registered voter in order to sign the petition, and you can only

win that million dollars if you live in one of the critical battle ground states. That's the problem. And the experts that we spoke to said that U.S.

Federal Law makes it a crime to pay people to register.

You can't give them money or a chance to win money through a lottery in exchange for their registration. I'll read for you what U.S. Federal Law

says, quote, whoever knowingly or willfully pays or offers to pay, or accepts payment, either for registration to vote, or to vote, could face up

to five years in prison.

That's the law, Eleni, and the legal experts say that Musk could be crossing that line, especially for anybody who hears about the cash prize

and then registered. We reached out for comments to Elon Musk super PAC, they did not respond. Like I said, this does not mean that Musk is getting

indicted if the Justice Department has a problem with what he's doing, the logical next step would probably be something like a cease-and-desist

letter.

But as you mentioned, there's at least one prominent former prosecutor who is calling this out, and that's Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. He's a

Democrat. He was the state attorney general before becoming the governor, and he blasted Musk yesterday on "Meet the Press". Listen to what he had to

say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): I think there are real questions with how he is spending money in this race, how the dark money is flowing, not just into

Pennsylvania, but apparently now into the pockets of Pennsylvanians. That is deeply concerning. I think it's something that law enforcement can take

a look at. I'm not the attorney general anymore Pennsylvania. I'm the governor, but it does raise some serious questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Yeah, Eleni, a lot of scrutiny for Elon Musk, who is the world's richest man.

GIOKOS: All right, Marshall, good to see you. Thank you. Well, moving on now, and an influential Turkish cleric has died at age 83. Fethullah Gulen

was a long-time bitter rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He was blamed for a deadly coup attempt in 2016. Jomana Karadsheh looks at his

controversial legacy.

[09:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To his followers, he was a peaceful man of God, preaching inter faith dialog, but to many in Turkey,

Fethullah Gulen was a man who spent years building an opaque and vengeful movement to take over the Turkish state.

And eventually the force behind a failed coup attempt that claimed the lives of more than 240 people in July of 2016. Turkey's President condemned

Him and compared him to ISIS, Gulen always maintained he had done nothing wrong, saying, in a 2016 statement, quote, I have repeatedly condemned the

coup attempt in Turkey and denied any knowledge or involvement.

Born in 1941 to modest circumstance, Gulen climbed the ranks of Turkey's religious bureaucracy to become an influential Imam. Over decades, he built

a fervent and loyal base of followers. Gulen's work was represented in all facets of Turkish life, including business associations, media outlets and

financial institutions.

But the linchpin of his movement was a vast network of schools that spanned across more than 100 countries. The schools in Turkey served as the main

recruitment and placement tool for the movement. Many of its members were lower middle class, pious Muslims, disenfranchised by Turkey's staunch

secularist power circles.

Many of them took jobs in the public sector. In 1999, Gulen moved to the United States, settling in the State of Pennsylvania. His supporters say he

left Turkey for medical treatment, but critics say he went into self- imposed exile, as he had come under scrutiny, accused of trying to undermine the secular government and replacing it with a religious one.

They were allegations he denied. In 2002, when a religiously Conservative government was elected, Gulen found an ally in Turkey's New Prime Minister,

Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It was a match made through political expediency.

KADRI GURSEL, JOURNALIST: The common adversary was the Kemalist Republican pro secular, military and civil democracy.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): For nearly a decade, the alliance worked together using the Gulen's movement's presence in the police and judiciary to stifle

the opposition. Hundreds of secularist military officers were detained, arrested and dismissed in shadowy court cases.

GURSEL: As Gulenist networks, they were closely cooperating and fabricating some so-called proofs to be presented, to be put in indictment. And at the

end of the day, nearly 10 percent of the active generals of the Turkish Armed Forces, a NATO member country, were put in jail.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): In 2013, prosecutors launched a corruption probe targeting Erdogan's inner circle. It was a break in the alliance, and

perhaps the first public sign of a power struggle between the two men. Erdogan later outlawed Gulen's movement and branded it terror group.

But it was the events of July 15, 2016 that would change the country for years to come. F-16 bombed parliament in the capital city, and armor tanks

rolled into positions on the main bridge connecting Asia to Europe and Istanbul. Erdogan quickly blamed Gulen for that failed coup, and his

government began a major crackdown.

Thousands of people suspected of having links to Gulen were fired from their jobs and arrested. Gulen, meanwhile, lived a quiet life in

Pennsylvania, despite multiple requests to the United States to extradite him back to Turkey, leaving behind a devout following and a controversial

legacy that made him one of the most influential men in Turkey's modern history.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Well, that was Jomana Karadsheh reporting for us. And still to come on CNN, The New York Liberty women's basketball team, clinched their first

ever WNBA championship. See how they beat the Minnesota links in an overtime nail biter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

GIOKOS: Welcome back now a thrilling end to a thrilling season. The New York Liberty claimed their first WNBA championship Sunday night, beating

the Minnesota links in overtime. It was New York six finals appearance, and now they finally got their hands on the title trophy. Amanda Davies joins

us now to give us a sense of the elation with this win, Amanda.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, Eleni, it's been a landmark record- breaking season for the WNBA, thanks in large part to Caitlin Clark, hasn't it? She and her team didn't make it to the finals, but really, this was a

final series that was very much deserving of the season that's been.

And for New York, a very, very long awaited first title, one of the original the OGS, in terms of the WNBA. They finally, after nearly 30

years, have got their hands on that trophy. They had to do it the hard way. It was a really, really hard for decisive game five, but the celebrations

well underway. And we're looking ahead to a victory parade in just a couple of minutes on "World Sport".

GIOKOS: All right, Amanda. We'll see you after the break. And I'll will be back at the top of the hour with more "Connect the World". We'll see you

soon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORTS)

END