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Israel Targets Hezbollah Financial Institutions; Lloyd Austin Visits Kyiv; Turkish Opposition Figure Fethullah Gulen Dies. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired October 21, 2024 - 10:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:11]
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi. This is CONNECT THE WORLD. Welcome to our second hour of connect the world. I'm Eleni
Giokos in Abu Dhabi. U.S. Special Envoy Amos Hochstein is in Beirut as Israel ramps up its attacks in Lebanon and vows to keep pounding Hezbollah
until it collapses. The U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin makes an unannounced visit to Kyiv, unveiling a new aid package amid warnings, North
Korea is planning to send thousands of troops to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
And famed Turkish opposition figure and preacher Fethullah Gulen blamed by Turkey for an attempted coup against the president, dies at the age of 83.
Israel branches of a financial institution with links to Hezbollah overnight. Until now, it had mostly been concentrating on the group's
military targets. Meanwhile, an Israeli strike killing at least 87 people in northern Gaza over the weekend. That's according to the Gaza health
ministry. It flattened apartment buildings while the Israeli military says it struck a Hamas terror target. We're also hearing that a U.S. anti-
missile system is in place in Israel.
CNN's Paula Hancocks is following all the threads of the day for us and joins us here in Abu Dhabi. Paula, good to see you. I want to talk about
the strike on a financial institution that has links to Hezbollah. What does it tell us about the way this war is headed, specifically as they try
-- as they say, to dismantle Hezbollah?
So, Eleni, this is the Al Qard Al Hassan financial institution. And the fact that Israel is going after this shows that it will go after anything
that it believes to be affiliated with Hezbollah. This shows us the direction it has been going and it will be going. Now, according to the
IDF, this is a financial institution with a number of branches in Beirut. We have seen a number of those being targeted in southern Lebanon in the
Beqaa Valley and they say that they hold funds that Hezbollah then uses for their military activities.
It also does support a number of the Shia community as well. It provides interest free loans, for example, to ease some of the poverty within the
community. And a senior Israeli intelligence official tells CNN that Israel is trying to drive a wedge between the Shia community and Hezbollah itself.
Now whether that is going to be possible, we simply don't know, but this is showing us that Israel will go after anything that it believes affiliated
with Hezbollah.
GIOKOS: So, in the meantime, we've been looking at perhaps this looming retaliation on Iran from Israel. The THAAD systems are now ready in Israel,
which means that the protection mechanism is in place. Do we know anything more about the next move on the Israeli front?
HANCOCKS: The timing, of course, we're looking at very closely. The fact that they put this extra missile defense system in now, does this mean that
the retaliation from Israel is imminent? No, of course, there were those two leaked U.S. intelligence documents which were detailing Israel's
preparations for retaliating against Iran. We've heard from the U.S. Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin that is not acceptable, that will be
investigated.
But it does suggest that we are looking at a shorter time frame to see what kind of response there will be. We don't have more details really about
what the -- what the retaliation will look like, but the fact that this THAAD system, it's a significant missile defense system, is now in place.
Apparently, it is -- it can be assembled very quickly and can be activated very quickly, shows that that there could be an anticipation of a larger
Iranian retaliation to whatever Israel is preparing at this point.
GIOKOS: In the meantime. Um, and, you know, we've been waiting for momentum on hostage and ceasefire talks. In fact, Anthony Blinken has been to the
region the for 11 times, I think, since the start of the war to no avail. So, give me a sense why now could be different to what we've seen before.
HANCOCKS: We don't know if it will be. I think that the thinking with the Biden administration is obviously now that Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas
has been killed. Does this provide an opportunity to be able to negotiate some kind of hostage cease fire deal? We simply don't know if that's going
to be possible. It hasn't been up until this point. We still don't have clarity on who exactly will take over from him, whether it's his brother.
Mohammed Sinwar which doesn't suggest that there's going to be any more inclination to agree to a hostage deal.
[10:05:05]
Will it be that the Hamas representatives in Doha, we simply don't know at this point. We did hear, though, that the director of Shin Bet the security
operation in Israel met with the new intelligence chief in Egypt on Sunday. So, we're seeing more diplomatic movement than we have been seeing in
months because these negotiations have been stalled for some time now. So, the fact that Blinken is coming back to the region just a couple of weeks
before a key U.S. election, of course, it's likely to be his last time in the region before that election.
GIOKOS: All right. Really significant move there, Paula. All hopes perhaps we can get some momentum on these talks. Paula Hancocks here in Abu Dhabi.
Thank you so much.
Israel is intensifying military operations in Lebanon and northern Gaza. Even further across Lebanon, the IDF says it's broadening its attacks to
include financial institutions linked to Hezbollah. The Israeli military says the Iranian-backed group fired about 200 projectiles into Israel on
Sunday. At the same time, the United Nations is warning that Israel may be destroying the Palestinian population in northern Gaza.
And as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens, some Palestinians are now describing airdrops of aid as both dangerous and humiliating.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They dropped parachutes of aid, and the aid killed our children. We don't want this aid. A little boy who was
running for safety in his tent a ton fell on him and killed him. Look at this little girl. Her mother was injured. What for? I don't want aid. My
son is gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is what her child died for, beans. Take your aid.
We don't want it. Is this our dignity? Packs of tea? Packs of sugar?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, Gaza's health ministry says at least 87 people were killed in a single Israeli air strike in northern Gaza on Saturday night. CNN's
Matthew Chance has more from Tel Aviv, and I must warn you that some of the images in his report are 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 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 Lahia 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's left. She sobs.
Israel says the casualty figures are exaggerated and that they operate against Hamas in a precise and targeted manner that eyewitnesses 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 fuelling hopes of a
hostage release, even a ceasefire in Gaza and beyond. In fact, the region seems to be plunging further into chaos, with Israel stepping up strikes
and 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, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: We're going to win this war. So will something deter you? No.
CHANCE (voice-over): Amid fears of an even wider, escalating war, all sides seem bent on pressing ahead.
Matt Chance, CNN Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has announced $400 million in aid to Ukraine. The package will include more ammunition and rockets.
Austin is currently on an unannounced visit to Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
[10:10:07]
He also reaffirmed the U.S.' commitment to Ukraine. This comes at a critical time for relations between the two countries, with the U.S.
presidential election just over two weeks to go. Joining us now from the Pentagon is CNN's Oren Liebermann. Oren, good to see you. Clearly a
critical meeting, critical aid package for Zelenskyy. Give us a sense of just how significant this is, and also what Zelenskyywants out of this
visit from Austin.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: At this point, the U.S. has made clear, and that is President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd
Austin, that they will use the remaining authority they have left to provide aid to Ukraine, and that it will be provided either before the end
of the year or before the end of this term. And so that is the hundreds of millions of dollars left. You see that coming forward.
And it's much of the same ammunition that we've seen before, artillery ammunition, mortar rounds, rounds for the HIMARS rocket launcher. That's
exactly what Ukraine needs as it's fighting back against the Russian force that has superior numbers and that is effectively grinding its way forward.
Small steps at a time, but those steps are significant, and they continue to add up.
For this, it's also a chance for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make the case once again for the U.S. to allow it to use long-range U.S.
weaponry on targets deeper inside Russia. The Biden administration has rebuffed those calls before, and is likely to do so once again, but it's
still an in-person chance for Zelenskyy and for his defense minister, Rustem Umerov to make that case once again.
It is a time of great uncertainty here so close to the election. The U.S. and that is -- the Biden administration and Lloyd Austin have made clear
that they will -- they will provide aid for as long as they can and for as long as is needed, but at least from the statements coming from former
President Donald Trump, it will be a very different relationship under a potential Trump administration.
Trump himself questioned or rather declined to answer, refused to answer whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war. So, there are two vastly
different looks and perspectives on what aid will be provided to Ukraine in just a matter of weeks here. So Zelenskyy will be trying to influence what
he can but he also realizes that this may be something very different in the immediate future here.
So, that is weighing on all of these. The U.S. has also made clear that it will shift the aid to Ukraine from a U.S. centric mechanism to one that is
more multinational and is more NATO focused in that perhaps trying to sort of safeguard the aid to Ukraine from a potential Trump administration.
GIOKOS: Yes. Really good point there ultimately what Zelenskyy would want is policy continuity regarding the war in his country. So interesting to
see what will play out. Oren Liebermann, thank you so much. Well, with just 15 days to go until Election Day, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are
making their final pitches to voters in the battleground states. That will decide the election.
The Vice President spent much of her weekend in the swing states of Georgia as well as Michigan where she sharpened her attacks on Trump's fitness for
Office. Trump, meantime, took more shots at Harris using profanity to do so. And he shot people on both sides of the aisle when he made vulgar
remarks about the late honored Arnold Palmer during a speech to supporters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
Listen as Trump talks about the legendary pro-golfers body to a crowd in Palmers hometown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But Arnold Palmer was all man. And 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, it is unbelievable as CNN reporter Alayna Treene and joining us now from Washington. Frankly, listening to these remarks pretty
shocking, and I think it elicited that shock. But tell us about what analysts believe these comments will have overall on voters.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, it's really interesting, Eleni, because over the past couple weeks now, we've really seen Donald Trump escalate his
rhetoric in the sense of painting a very dark picture of America, of using more vulgarity, of using profanity during that speech as well that you just
referenced in addition to that Arnold Palmer anecdote. He also cursed repeatedly, called Kamala Harris a shit vice president.
So, he is really ratcheting up this language in this final stretch. And was also interesting about this is that just before those remarks on Saturday
in Pennsylvania, Jason Miller, he's a senior Trump campaign adviser, he was telling reporters that that speech and the different trips that he was
going to be do -- really, the start of him delivering his closing argument to American voters.
[10:15:09]
So, I think that caught a lot of people by surprise. But look, for your question about, what do people make of this? It really does vary. For the
people who are critics of Donald Trump, they argue that his speeches, which are -- I mean, I think, without a doubt becoming more meandering. They're
arguing that that could be a sign of him giving into his worst impulses of him maybe having some sort of cognitive impairment as he gets older.
But his allies are saying this is Donald Trump being Donald Trump the -- his base loves these stories, which I can say from going to these rallies,
they do. They find these anecdotes hilarious. They think that this could be energizing. People particularly those who he knows that he needs to
convince to get out to the polls in order to make a difference on Election Day, and that he's more relatable when he does these types of things,
including when he went to McDonald's yesterday in a way of kind of trolling the Harris campaign.
So it does depend on who you talk to, but I will say in my conversations with Trump senior advisers, there's a little bit of a market change that
I've noticed and how they are framing Donald Trump and these events in this final stretch, whereas, you know, a couple months ago, they were really
pressuring him to focus on hitting his key messaging points when it came to issues like the economy, immigration.
Issues that they know Donald Trump is, for the most part, polling better on than Kamala Harris. But now they're kind of telling me that they are
allowing Donald Trump to do his own thing. And that, you know, they can't put him in a box. They never really could. He is a 78-year-old man, but
that they're not pressuring anymore to really stick to the issues. They're letting him kind of deliver his own message in his own words.
But I don't think there's any question that a lot of the times, that message is pretty controversial and quite shocking to some viewers.
GIOKOS: It is indeed. Alayna Treene, good to see you. Thank you. With just a couple of weeks until the election, the battle for -- the battleground
states is getting even more intense. Still to come, Kamala Harris heads to three swing states and she's getting an assistant from a Republican ally.
Plus, Moldova votes by a tiny margin to push for European Union membership as its president condemns interference by foreign actors.
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GIOKOS: With just two weeks and a day until the U.S. presidential election. Democratic hopeful Kamala Harris is making an aggressive bid to try to win
over undecided Republican voters. She's teaming up with conservative former Congresswoman Liz Cheney to stump up in three so-called blue wall states,
Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. And all three states helped push Donald Trump to victory in 2016 then switched to Joe Biden in 2020.
[10:20:02]
CNN' Senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak is in Washington for us. Kevin, these campaign events aren't intended to focus on policy pictures.
Harris and Cheney don't have much at all in common when it comes to policy. So what will be the focus?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And it is interesting. You have some strange bedfellows on the campaign trail. Liz Cheney is probably
the most prominent Republican to have endorsed the Vice President at this point in the campaign. And it just shows how the Harris folks really do
believe that there are some persuadable conservative voters who are turned off by some of the rhetoric that we've been hearing from Donald Trump on
the campaign trail.
And they really do want to try and explore where they can squeeze as many votes as they can passively get. Now, who she's campaigning with is
interesting, but it's also where she's campaigning. These are suburban counties in all three of the Great Lake blue wall states. Each of them saw
big swings away from Donald Trump between 2016 and 2020. But what you also saw in all three of these counties was thousands of votes cast for Nikki
Haley.
Remember, she was one of Donald Trump's competitors for the Republican nomination. This time around, she received a lot of votes in these places,
even when she had dropped out of the race. And so, in the eyes of the Kamala Harris campaign, there are some people in these places, particularly
conservative women who might just vote for Kamala Harris this time around, if they can speak directly to them.
And that at this stage in the campaign is exactly what Harris is trying to do, really kind of putting an exerted effort on each of these key
demographics to try and squeeze out as many votes as they possibly can in all of the critical battlegrounds, recognizing that this race is going to
be won on the margins by a margin of thousands perhaps even hundreds of votes. And so that's what you see her doing in this final sprint towards
Election Day.
She is heading into this final sprint with a major cash advantage. We just learned overnight that she raised a billion dollars in the last quarter.
That's far and away, a record for any presidential candidate. What it allows her to do is spend less time talking to donors and trying to
convince them to donate more time on the battleground states, talking to these individual demographics, trying to win as many votes as she can.
GIOKOS: Look, a rally in Georgia this weekend, Harris admitting to the crowd that it was a tight race and called herself and Tim Walz the
underdogs. Why use this mantra?
LIPTAK: Yes. Well, one, I think she is the underdog in this race. Polls show a very tight contest, and at the end of the day, there has never been
a candidate who was selected to the ticket, you know, 100 days before the election and went on to win. So, I think she is trying to sort of break any
kind of historical precedent here. So that's one reason. The other reason I think she's saying that is she's trying to guard against any kind of
overconfidence among her supporters.
Certainly, she went into her convention over the summer with a swell of momentum. There's been a lot of enthusiasm for her candidacy, but at the
end of the day, her team really sees a narrow race in all of these battleground states. There's no guarantee that she will prevail, and I
think that's why she's using this language on the campaign trail.
GIOKOS: All right. Kevin Liptak, good to see you. Thank you. Moving on now. And Moldova has voted to push for European Union membership by an
incredibly thin margin, with more than 99 percent of the vote now counted, the small, former Soviet republic has voted yes to joining the E.U. by just
slightly over 50 percent. It comes as the country's president is speaking out about what she's calling unprecedented attempts by foreign actors to
interfere in the result.
Clare Sebastian is now following the story for us from London. Good to see you. As we said, it's a very small margin. So, what does that mean and what
is next for Moldova?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, on the one hand, Eleni, a yes is a yes, even if it is 50.4 percent in favor. And this
is a yes to change Moldova's constitution to essentially enshrine a commitment to join the E.U. So that is essentially what they have voted
for. And on the face of it, a victory for the pro-E.U. camp in Moldova. And perhaps a blow above all, to Russia.
But it is not, as you say, the resounding victory that Maia Sandu, the pro- E.U. incumbent president in Moldova was hoping for. And it does given that the vote -- that votes happened at the same time the presidential election
and the E.U. referendum. It does put extra pressure on the runoff presidential vote on November 3rd where she will be competing against a
rival pro-Russian candidate. So, she will definitely be stepping up that campaign in the next week and a half.
[10:25:04]
She has made it very clear that she -- that she believes that Russian interference in this election negatively impacted the result and is
painting this now as a sort of a lesson to be learned, that Moldova needs to strengthen its democracy to avoid future such assaults, as she put it
going forward. But overall, I think regardless of how much Russian alleged interference did impact the final results in these votes, it does expose
these fault lines in Moldova, a country that is locked in this sort of tug of war between pro-E.U. tendencies on the one hand and Russia's increasing
desire to exert influence over the post-Soviet space on the other hand, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yes. Really interesting about this alleged foreign interference and what that could ultimately mean. But Clare, give me a sense as well for the
presidents and what that basically entails for her future and how this referendum could shift that.
SEBASTIAN: Yes. So she is really -- she really represents that pro-E.U. camp, that sort of reformist camp in Moldova. She's been in power since
sort of the end of 2020 and has tried, and in some cases succeeded, in ushering in all sorts of reforms, and then, obviously a milestone moment
for her was in June of 2022 when Moldova, alongside Ukraine, gained E.U. candidate status, something that she has been quite open in saying that
they probably wouldn't have done if it weren't for the war in Ukraine.
So, this is a really crucial moment, not just for her, but of course, for Moldova's future, whether it sort of moves more towards Europe or shifts
back into Russia's orbit. And I think the interference that has been alleged by Russia, ranging from sort of more sophisticated propaganda and
misinformation in the lead up to this to more crude allegations of vote buying, really shows just how much importance Russia puts on this. Take a
listen to a spokesperson for the E.U. commission on that topic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER STANO, E.U. SPOKESPERSON: 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 -- have been or there were attempts made to buy -- to buy votes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: Well, Russia denies this. The Kremlin deploying a typical deflection tactic. Today, the spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov telling state
media that Moldova has in fact been suppressing opposition in this election. But look, as I say, this is a sort of bellwether for what we see
Georgia as another example will be holding parliamentary elections in the coming days, something also very closely watched by the European Union as
Russian influence rises in that country too.
GIOKOS: All right. Clare Sebastian, thank you. As well, ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD, we'll have the latest developments coming out of the Middle
East. Our next guest says we are on the precipice of a major escalation in the Iran-Israel conflict space. We'll be back right after this.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:30:48]
GIOKOS: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads back to the Middle East today and he's hoping to jump start
ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas and they've been stalled for weeks. Meantime, in Lebanon, Israel attacked a financial association linked
to Hezbollah. Our next guest is Randa Slim. He's working on a book about Hezbollah. She is director of the Middle East Institute and joins us now
from Dayton, Ohio.
Randa, great to see you. Thank you so much for taking the time. I mean, what we're trying to do is just sort of understand the inner workings of
Hezbollah, how difficult it will be to dismantle this entity. And I think it's an important question to ask today, as we see Israel focusing
initially on military targets, now extending that into financial institutions that are linked to Hezbollah. And the complexities in
understanding this organization that clearly has a political arm as well as a military wing.
RANDA SLIM, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Exactly. I mean, it's an organization that has a supporting milieu in the Shia community of Lebanon,
but also in other communities in the country. The country itself is a very complex political, you know, makeup, and has a very complex political
makeup. And so, to claim, like Israel has been claiming, through the attacks on the different institutions like Al Qard Al Hassan to be able to
create a wedge between Hezbollah and the supporting milieu. I think it's very hard to achieve right now.
GIOKOS: You know, it's also interesting when you see the United States and frankly other Western countries qualifying it as a terrorist organization,
the E.U. has been more reluctant to do so where it's qualified the military arm as a terrorist organization, not so much the political entity as well.
Can you give us an understanding of the tentacles of the network that is Hezbollah? Because this financial institution that was targeted actually
had a social element to it.
But also, from what we understand, there was also a lot of money that was funneled into the military arm as well. So, it's sort of difficult to
decipher the political from the military arm.
SLIM: So, the United States, several European countries, some Arab countries have classified Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. On the
other hand, Hezbollah is a paramilitary organization in the country. Has its own independent military infrastructure that is outside the control of
the -- of the -- of the -- of the state, but at the time, it's a political party that has members in the Lebanese Parliament.
It has ministers in the current cabinet of the, you know, caretaker cabinet in Lebanon. And it has a very wide network of social service organization,
including this organization, Al Qard Al Hassan was targeted yesterday by Israel, which is a micro credit organization that was established in the
late -- in the late '80s to service mostly the Shia of Lebanon who a lot of them are pretty much, you know, poor people that give small loans up to
$2,500 per loan to serve -- to help people pay for sometimes hospital care, sometimes for tuition fees, sometimes for -- to start businesses, small
businesses, particularly women.
You know, women-owned businesses. So, it is a much more complicated picture than it is for trade as being directly, you know, just there to service
Hezbollah. It services a wide-constituencies of Lebanese, especially now, at the time when the economy is in dire straits and people have no longer
saving available to them.
GIOKOS: Yes. It's a really important point because it just sort of, you know, refers to the fact that many of that many organizations globally,
whether it's paramilitary or not, they usually have a political arm as well as a military arm. And this situation, of course, is absolutely unique in
its sense. You also say this, and this is quite important, Hezbollah's role regarding Iran has changed over the years and it is now the, "linchpin of
the Iran-funded access of resistance in the Middle East."
[10:35:09]
You're also warning quite seriously that we're on a precipice of a major escalation. Could you elaborate on these two statements?
SLIM: Yes. I mean, we are definitely on the precipice of a major escalation between Iran and Israel and which can have major negative unintended
consequences, and it might drag the region, as well as the United States into a protracted tit for tat escalation between Israel --
and I think, you know, that doesn't bode well for the region. It doesn't bode well for ongoing negotiation to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza and it
doesn't bode well for ongoing negotiations to bring a cessation of hostilities between Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel.
Because this going to add another layer of complexity to another to another -- to an already complicated situation and make -- concession making much
harder to achieve from either side.
GIOKOS: Yes. It's really important point. And you mentioned ceasefire talks, hostage deal talks, Anthony Blinken in the region, but I want to
refer to something that we're going to be hearing a lot more of the U.N. Security Council 1701 resolution which helped end the 2006 war, and then
put in place UNIFIL which is a U.N. body to sort of ensure that nothing happens on the ground and there's no escalation.
Amos Hochstein is currently in Beirut, and he actually made reference to this resolution. And I wonder in your mind, because you've written about
this, what probabilities we could see where you invoke this resolution and it can be put into effect and implemented effectively, and whether you have
hope of this happening?
SLIM: It is the major reference point for any deal going forward between Lebanon and Israel, because it's very hard to envision the Security Council
given the political divides in its mess, to agree on another resolution to end the conflict between Lebanon and Israel. So, it is a major reference
point and it has -- it has, you know, brought to the fore 16 years of fairly quiet border between Lebanon and Israel.
It has not been implemented in full by either side. It hasn't been implemented full -- in full by Hezbollah but it also it hasn't been
implemented in full by Israel. But it is the only reference point. Now it can be strengthened, it can be empowered. I can -- based on some reporting,
we are hearing that Israel would like to have more enforcement mechanisms but at the same time, the demands that Israel is currently making when it
comes to implementation of 1701 are not going to be acceptable to the Lebanese.
It's really -- it really asking the Lebanese to abdicate their territorial sovereignty, which is going to be very hard, not only for Hezbollah, but
any Lebanese prime minister or Lebanese speaker of parliament to accept. So, this is the beginning of a negotiation process. I expect both sides
will continue the fight and try to see how the fighting will dictate further terms of the negotiation. But at least that process has started.
1701 is the reference point.
It can be implemented. It needs to be enforced in terms of implementation, but it can be also the entry point to a ceasefire deal on that front.
GIOKOS: And absolutely, and, you know, relating to that talks need to occur serious once, and hopefully momentum build on that to try and enforce this
resolution that stopped a war once, hopefully it can again. Thank you so much for joining us, Randa Slim. Much appreciated for your time and your
insights.
Moving on now. An influential Turkish cleric has died at age 83. Fethullah Gulen was an ally-turned bitter rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, Turkey's government blamed him for a deadly coup attempt in 2016 and 300 people were killed as the coup was repelled. Gulen always
maintained, he had done nothing wrong and he spent the latter part of his life in self-imposed exile in the United States, despite multiple requests
to the U.S. to extradite him back to Turkey.
Let's get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: 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.
[10:40:06]
Seven new lawsuits have been filed against Sean Diddy Combs, including two from accusers who say they were minors at the time when they were drugged
and sexually assaulted. And for the first time, the celebrities are cited, although they are not named since November 2023 at least 25 civil lawsuits
have been filed against Combs.
Millions of Cubans are enduring blackouts after the country's power grid failed for a fourth time on Sunday. Food shortages and clean water are now
a concern after Hurricane Oscar made landfall on Sunday. The now tropical storm is producing heavy rains and strong gusts. Officials have closed
schools until Thursday.
And still to come. It is not clear whether a death-row inmates in Texas will testify before state lawmakers after a last-minute stay on his
execution was granted just days ago. Live reports on that story just ahead.
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GIOKOS: It is unclear if a Texas death row inmate will be testifying before state lawmakers today. Robert Roberson was subpoenaed to appear before a
State House committee just days after the Texas Supreme Court halted his execution for the 2002 killing of his two-year-old daughter. Roberson would
have become the first person in the U.S. to be put to death for a conviction related to Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Anti-capital punishment groups want his death penalty revoked. CNN's Ed Lavandera has been following this story for us. Ed, what is the letters
that you're hearing?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT Well, in just a few hours, what is scheduled or at least still on the schedule to happen, is that this
death row inmate, Robert Roberson is expected to enter the committee room here in the underground area of the Texas State Capitol to testify before a
House committee that is investigating the medical evidence in his death penalty case.
But what is happening here is still very much up in the air, and there are some serious questions about whether or not his testimony will actually
happen in person today. And right now what we have seen over the weekend is a flurry of legal activity where the Texas Attorney General, Republican Ken
Paxton has stepped in and has told the committee that the Texas prison system will only allow Roberson to testify virtually from the death row
prison where he is held, which is about a 3-1/2 hour drive away from the state capitol.
The lawmakers of this committee and Roberson's attorneys had fully expected for Roberson to testify here in person, which, if you think about it, is a
historic and unprecedented situation, a death row inmate here in Texas being brought from a prison here to the state capitol to testify in an open
public hearing would be a monumental moment here in the history of state politics.
[10:45:09]
But at this moment, it's not clear whether or not that will happen. The lawmakers and Roberson's attorneys continue to push for Roberson to appear
and testify in person. That hearing is supposed to start in just a couple of hours and there's no indication yet whether or not this will actually
happen here.
GIOKOS: All right. And another question here is that his attorneys will still need to prove his innocence in court. So where does that stand?
LAVANDERA: So, that's separate issue. You know this -- so what this did, this House committee did here in Austin was issued a subpoena last week
just the day before he was scheduled to die. This subpoena essentially saved his life because the state Supreme Court stepped in and said
basically halted the execution. But this doesn't change the bigger question that faces Roberson and his advocates who still have to get a court to
listen and focus on the new -- what they say is new medical evidence that essentially proves his innocence in this case.
As you mentioned off the top, Roberson is accused of killing his two-year- old daughter back in 2002. In 2003 he was convicted and sent to death row. Roberson's advocates say that the diagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome was
misdiagnosed, that the young girl had actually died of double pneumonia which had progressed into sepsis, and that those symptoms can mimic signs
of abuse in a child of that age.
That is what is at the heart of all of this. But lawyers say they will have to continue to work to find a court that will listen to this medical
testimony to try to prove Roberson's innocence.
GIOKOS: All right. Ed Lavandera, thank you so much. And 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 answer that question in just a moment.
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GIOKOS: Fighting cybercrime is big business around the world by the end of this year, the financial impacts of cybercrime is expected to surpass $10
trillion according to the firm's cybersecurity ventures. Many say this is the new frontline in geopolitical tensions, misinformation and election
fraud, making the investment in cybersecurity just as important in investing in military defense.
Last week in Dubai I attended the largest tech and A.I. event in the world, Gitex and spoke with the UAE's head of cyber security Mohammed Al Kuwaiti,
and he explained the risk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED AL KUWAITI, UAE HEAD OF CYBERSECURITY: There are three threats, if I may actually summarize those. One is the cybercrimes. Definitely those,
the frauds, the scams, the impersonations, so many of those aspects that we see as a personal level. And every single consumer here, as well as a user,
I'm sure they have faced similar to this, or some of their relatives have faced similar to such crimes.
The second one or the second main threats that we see as well as the cyberterrorism and this is where many of the geopolitical aspects had
brought this, as a matter of fact, and that includes many of this misinformation, disinformation, and really changing the mindset of the
publics towards terrorism, ideologies and really working on many of those aspects.
[10:50:12]
And that's what we've seen and that's what we are countering. As a matter of fact, across all of the platforms, as well as across all of the
awareness and sessions that we do. So definitely cyberterrorism. It's in that virtual world, and we need to ensure everybody is secure about that.
And the third one is cyberwelfare. We saw around us, many of those cyberattacks focusing and targeting critical infrastructures.
Things that we depend our lives on. Electricity, oil, gas, aviation, or even as simple as health care. And we saw how ransomware is actually really
targeting those health care without even paying attention to the people behind that. And the victims who could suffer and even lost their lives God
forbids in many of those attacks. So, definitely, those three threats are the major things that we see.
And yes, they are related in this area of the world and this is what we are actually trying to counter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: And also, Gitex, a former British national security minister who confirmed the challenge and also focused on some of the probable solutions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN MCPARTLAND, FORMER BRITISH NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTER: As His Excellency said, 71 million attacks on the UAE. I think we should celebrate
the fact there were 71 million attacks and none of them went through because of global collaboration and partnerships which helped to protect
them. So, I think we should celebrate some of these figures, as opposed to being upset about those figures.
Finally, in the U.K., we put a new law in around security by design. So, building on some of the other points where we're essentially saying
manufacturers providing products have to ensure that those products are secure. And for me, it's the supply chains. In the United Kingdom, multi-
trillion-dollar economy, lots of big businesses that you've all heard of, over 99 percent of all businesses in the United Kingdom are small and
medium-sized enterprises.
Every single one of those large businesses stands on the shoulder of thousands of SMEs in all of these countries, represented here today and
throughout the whole of this hall. So we have to get cybersecurity pushed down into our supply chains.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, the world's richest man, Elon Musk, is trying to use cold, hard cash to engage registered voters.
(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 straightforward. You don't even have to vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, Musk is 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, in fact, even legal. CNN's Marshall Cohen joins us now with all the details.
I'm going to have to say it's a lucrative incentive. But is he pushing legal boundaries here with a staggering $1 million daily price?
MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Eleni, he might be pushing that limit, crossing that red line, and explain why. But let me be super clear up
front, I'm not saying that Elon Musk is going to be locked up or put on trial anytime soon. What I'm saying is that some very respected scholars
here in the U.S. who study election law for a living say that what Musk is doing it might cross that line, and they immediately raised legal
objections after his announcements over the weekend.
So, you just heard that clip of musk saying that the prize will go to people who sign his petition affirming their support for the First and
Second Amendments. But that's not quite all you need to do to be eligible. If you look at the fine print on Musk's super PAC Web site, it says that
you must be a registered voter in order to sign the petition. And that you can only win that million dollars if you live in one of the critical
battleground states, and that is the problem.
The experts we spoke to said federal law makes it a crime to pay people to register to vote. You can't give them money or a chance to win money
through a lottery. Here's what the law says. We can look at it together. It says, "whoever knowingly or willfully pays or offers to pay or accepts
payment either for registration to vote or to vote can face up to five years in prison." That's the law in black and white.
And experts said that Elon Musk could be crossing the line, especially for anyone who hears about the prize and then goes and registers to vote. So,
we reached out to Musk's super PAC for comment, but they did not respond. Like I said, Eleni, this doesn't mean he's getting indicted right now or
even ever, if the Justice Department has a problem with what Elon Musk is doing, the logical next step could be something like a cease-and-desist
letter.
[10:55:11]
But there is 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 attorney general of Pennsylvania before becoming the governor, and here's what he had to say yesterday on Meet the Press.
(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 of Pennsylvania. I'm the governor, but it does raise some serious questions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: All right. So, a lot of scrutiny for Elon Musk, the world's richest man, who's trying to play a big role in the U.S. election.
GIOKOS: Indeed, Marshall. Good to see you. Thank you so much. And that is it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "NEWSROOM" is up next.
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END
