Return to Transcripts main page
Hala Gorani Tonight
Syrian Forces Move To Occupy Kurdish Territory; Elizabeth II Gives Queen's Speech; Hong Kong Protestors Detonate Homemade Bomb; Alliances Shift Amid New Power Vacuum In Northern Syria; Black Woman Killed By White Police Officer In Her Own Home; Multiple Witnesses To Testify On Capitol Hill This Week; Government Reaches Deal To End Violent Protests; World Witnesses Flurry Of Amazing Athletic Feats. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired October 14, 2019 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:20]
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello, everyone. Live from CNN London, I'm Hala Gorani.
Tonight, a civil war redefined in 48 hours. As soon as American troops left a void, Russia and the Syrian regime filled it. What that means, not
just for Syria but for the world.
Then this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH II, QUEEN OF ENGLAND: My government's priority has always been to secure the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union on the
31st of October.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: From the queen herself, October 31st is still scheduled to be Brexit Day. But is it wishful thinking for Boris Johnson?
And, later, a woman shot dead in her own home. The culprit? A Texas police officer, called in to check on her safety. We'll have more on the
outrage growing surrounding this story.
We start the show with some history-changing developments in just 48 hours in Syria. After the U.S. gave Turkey a green light to move into the
northern part of the country, Kurds say they had no other option than to sign a deal with the Assad regime.
And so, today, government forces backed by Russia are entering town after town, including a strategic city near Raqqa. The regime has reportedly
also entered the Kurdish-controlled city of Manbij, which Turkey signaled would be its next target. These are Turkish-backed rebels close by. Will
there be a confrontation? Meantime, U.S. forces are stepping up their withdrawal. They could be gone within days.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh tells us the landscape is now shifting at a head- spinning pace.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Each dawn seems to bring seismic change in Syria now, yet the darkness
never seems to end. This is Qamishli, once the Syrian Kurds' de facto capital, but now shuttered, empty, the internet partially off and drifting
fast into Syrian regime hands. Every road, a story of people fleeing hatred old or new, as land changes hands yet again.
PATON WALSH: Pretty much every road we've gone on, so far this morning, we've heard either verified information or rumors that the Syrian regime is
coming, that they're moving fast into Syrian Kurdish territory, kind of in a land grab after their political deal with the Syrian Kurdish leadership,
to seize as much territory as they can.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): This is Tal Tamr, Kurdish 24 hours ago and, Monday morning, swarming with regime forces and residents who remembered
what to say to them. I was hiding this picture of Bashar al-Assad, he says, and now I raise it with the return of the Syrian army. Down with
Turkish President Erdogan.
The border was almost calm. Yet, we're told as we left, we're welcome back any time. But now, we should run.
PATON WALSH: It's (ph) time, certainly to leave. It's possible even this border post behind us, where there's a sense of panic about what comes
next, may even be in Syrian regime hands, possibly, in the days ahead.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Twenty-four hours earlier, we began a simple trip to Kobani when it all collapsed. Gunfire, horror. The road blocked,
though, by Syrian rebels supported by Turkey, that a U.S. official has said are mostly former ISIS and al Qaeda.
An American convoy pulled out --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jet, jet.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): -- and were quickly buzzed by a jet.
And as we pulled back Turkish military vehicles pulled up to the main highway. Turkey, openly admitting it had taken a road most thought was far
from their plan. It was a defining moment, isolating American forces here, and the U.S. declared it was leaving.
MARK ESPER, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We find ourselves, as we have American forces likely caught between two opposing advancing armies and it's a very
untenable situation.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Yet those they abandoned continue to bleed. Turkey, striking a convoy headed to the besieged border town of Ras al-Ain.
Turkey long said it wanted to do this, but nobody guessed it would be this brutal.
America long said it would leave Syrians behind one day, but nobody thought it would be so fast. And the regime long said they would retake as much of
Syria as they could, but nobody thought the U.S. would make it so easy for them and their Russian backers.
Twenty-four hours that changed how the world works, and 24 more hours in which Syrians bleed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, Nick is just back from Syria. He joins me now, live from Erbil in northern Iraq. So the Assad regime is now moving in, town after
town, as we reported at the top of the show. What does this mean on the ground for that part of the country?
[14:05:00]
PATON WALSH: I think a mixed reception. Obviously, there are some Syrian Kurds who, very close to the Americans, and initially, perhaps, anti-regime
in the first place. Remember their relationship was always there between the Syrian Kurds and the Syrian regime, frayed as the Syrian war began to
get going.
Those Syrian Kurds, well, they're troubled and they're wondering where they can possibly go. Those who, perhaps, feel the Syrian regime is maybe the
lesser evil -- extraordinary to think that a government that has killed hundreds of thousands of its own people, used chemical weapons, been
responsible for the execution, summary execution and torture of thousands on a mass industrial scale, is the better option right now.
But looking at the chaos, at least they might be able to provide stability with the support of maybe the Russian air force behind them. They are
moving incredibly quickly, and it was very hard to divine accurate information, but it was clear -- you could see the pictures there -- they
were in Tal Tamr. That was entirely Syrian Kurdish just a matter of yesterday morning at dawn.
And now they're there, they seem to be headed -- what we could tell, from the -- to the Syrian border, which we left via -- we we told by an official
there who normally stamps us in and out, that we're welcome back any time but today, we should run.
So, clearly, they're moving very fast and, as you say, they're moving into Manbij. The Turkish have also announced the potential for an operation
there. But they're obviously moving to secure territory before the Turkish-backed forces, the Syrian rebels -- who, I have to say, have been
extraordinarily radical in their behavior, brutal from the videos we've seen -- U.S. officials saying they're mostly extremists, some former ISIS,
some former al Qaeda, not the moderates, Turkey representing them to be.
There's now a moment, I think, where these forces will eventually come close enough to each other that that phone call between President Erdogan
and President Putin, which they suggested, yesterday might be in the offing, may have to occur, that (ph) may delineate the lines there.
But that doesn't solve the problem. These are not particularly pleasant forces. At times, there will be a war of attrition, going forward. And
then there (ph) are the thousands of people on the move, caught in between all of this in that continued sense of fighting.
And the question, too, of ISIS. Nobody but them benefits from this quite so much. The detention facilities they're in, they're under threat. We've
been hearing, possibly --
GORANI: Yes.
PATON WALSH: -- the SDF, the Syrian Kurds have tried to move people into more central locations. U.S. officials accused the Turkish of deliberately
shelling some of those prison facilities. That's the major problem here.
GORAN: Yes.
PATON WALSH: They're going to make use of this space, and become an issue that the world, perhaps, has to come back and fix again later -- Hala.
GORANI: Well, you mentioned the ISIS issue. Thanks very much, Nick Paton Walsh in Erbil.
As Kurdish troops turn their attention to the attack from Turkey, there's growing concern about all of those ISIS prisoners that the Kurds were
guarding. Our Ben Wedeman reports that many ISIS fighters and supporters are now at large.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was supposed to be the final battle to crush the so-called caliphate of the
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, reduced to the remote town of Baghuz on the banks of the Euphrates River.
By night and by day, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by coalition airstrikes, artillery and mortar fire, pummeled the town for
almost two months.
Thousands of ISIS fighters surrendered as their wives and children fled the town. Yet few of them conceded this was the end of ISIS leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi's mad experiment.
Omar (ph), a Palestinian refugee who grew up in Syria, told me, maybe the Americans rule the world today, but God almighty promised the Muslims that,
in the end, the world will be ruled by Islam.
God is testing us, this wife of an ISIS fighter said. The unworthy will leave and the righteous will remain.
The fighters and their families ended up in SDF-run prisons and camps, many came from Europe. The home countries of the foreign fighters refused to
take them back.
The camps have become microcosms of the caliphate, where women enforce the draconian laws by which ISIS lived, and punish those who step out of line.
Last month, al-Baghdadi called upon his supporters to breach the walls of the prisons and the camps. And just days after the Turkish invasion began,
that has come to pass. Hundreds of ISIS fighters and their families have escaped as the SDF shifts some of the men and women away from guarding the
camps, and toward the front lines.
The U.S. and its Western allies are now pulling out of northern Syria. As Turkish forces, their Syrian militias, and now the Syrian army rush in, the
Americans rush out.
ESPER: What we're facing is, U.S. forces in a -- trapped between a Syrian Russian army moving north to take on the Turkish army that is moving south.
It puts us in a terrible position and the protection and safety of our service members comes first to me.
[14:10:03]
I've talked to the president, and he is concerned. And so, last night, he directed that we begin a deliberate withdrawal of U.S. forces from the
northern part of Syria.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): The victory over ISIS was a mirage. The effort to crush it has come to naught. The U.S. leaves chaos in its wake, its so-
called deliberate withdrawal seems to be little more than betrayal and retreat.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Joining me now is our chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward. It's exceptional, how quickly this all unraveled. I mean, really,
even seasoned Syria observers were surprised. I was stunned, that within 48 hours, the whole situation on the ground has so radically shifted.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I know. It was hard to believe because, you know, we were some of the first on the ground, we
were there for four days, things were happening at a sort of steady pace. The Turkish military was chipping away at the edges -- from what we saw --
of Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad. Now, granted, civilians were fleeing those towns almost immediately, that the strikes began. But it still seemed like
they had a lot of work left to do.
We also went and visited a U.S. special forces base, just on Friday, sat down with U.S. special forces -- people who did not want to appear on
camera, but who were telling us that they felt very safe in their location, which was in Hasakah. Within 24 hours, almost everything changed. I have
never witnessed a situation unravel that quickly, that dramatically.
GORANI: Why did it happen that quickly?
WARD: Because, essentially, once the U.S. realized that they were going to leave, everything shifted --
GORANI: Right.
WARD: -- immediately, the Kurds went into option B, which --
GORANI: Yes.
WARD: -- you know, it was no surprise, to see the Kurds turn to the regime of Bashar al-Assad. That's always been in their back pocket --
GORANI: Yes.
WARD: -- as their sort of strategic move, if and when the U.S. abandoned them.
GORANI: Yes.
WARD: But it was just quite striking, to see how quickly the regime then leapt into the void. Within hours, they were in Qamishli. People are
waving posters of Bashar al-Assad. And the Turks as well, dramatically escalated their push both in terms of depth into the country, but also the
intensity of those strikes.
GORANI: And what's incredible is just how much this is benefiting Russia, the regime, Iran, the U.S. has pulled out. They were, really, sort of the
buffer in that part of Syria. And now, Russia is eagerly filling that void once again.
WARD: And you know what's a little frustrating, Hala, about watching this and covering this story? Is that all of this was predicted.
GORANI: Yes.
WARD: All of this was avoidable. You and I have been having this conversation. Everybody knew how this scenario would play out --
GORANI: Yes.
WARD: -- if and when the U.S. was forced to pull out, either because Trump ordered it or, because of situations on the ground, dictated it. It was
quite clear that it was going to have a domino effect.
Because the whole of Syria is sort of held together by Scotch tape right now --
GORANI: Yes.
WARD: -- if you shift one actor in one direction, it has a causal effect on the rest of the actors. And before you know it, you are changing the
entire map of the country.
GORANI: What did the U.S. special forces tell you about Donald Trump's decision to withdraw them from that part of Syria?
WARD: Unsurprisingly, they were incredibly buttoned up and would not comment --
GORANI: Even off-camera?
WARD: Even off-camera. But what was interesting, the special forces base was guarded by Kurdish fighters with the SDF. And those Kurdish fighters
would privately tell us, off-camera, that they felt like they'd been sold out. That they knew the U.S. wasn't going to do anything to help them.
And can you imagine, Hala, how awkward it is for the U.S. special forces men who are there, who are fighting and dying on the ground with their
Kurdish brothers, on the front lines, for years, who are being guarded in their own base by Kurdish forces --
GORANI: To basically tell them --
WARD: -- to basically hang them out to dry and then abandon --
GORANI: We're leaving, yes.
WARD: -- them like that.
GORANI: Abandon them at a tremendous cost to them. They had a -- basically, a semi-autonomous state within Syria. It was relatively stable.
That's all gone now.
WARD: It's all gone. I think this is really the end of a very small but bright chapter for the Kurds, and now there's a very dark future ahead.
Who knows what will happen. The Syrian Democratic Forces, the predominantly Kurdish fighting force that defeated ISIS, presumably they'll
have to disband, many of them will probably have to leave the country, go underground. Others will be left to the mercy of Erdogan, and others will
make peace with the regime. But it's a bleak outlook.
GORANI: And the big question is, what was said on that phone call between President Erdogan --
WARD: Between president -- yes.
GORANI: -- of Turkey, and President Donald Trump, that led to this precipitous withdrawal of all these Special Forces from northern Syria,
that then ended up creating the scenario that we're witnessing today?
WARD: So quickly, so easily, with seemingly no conditions --
GORANI: Do we know?
WARD: We have no idea --
GORANI: Yes.
WARD: -- what exactly it was. There are people who speculate that President Trump gets on well with autocrats, that he respects and admires
them. He also doesn't like conflict.
GORANI: But the entire military and political establishment, left and right in Washington, was telling Donald Trump, don't do this.
[14:15:02]
WARD: He was facing crushing political pressure.
GORANI: You didn't need to be a huge Middle East expert to predict that this would be the outcome. We were -- we were saying it before it even --
(CROSSTALK)
WARD: But he feels very strongly, I ran on the platform, I'm cutting (ph) and running, we're done with the Middle East --
GORANI: But he's sending troops to Saudi now.
WARD: -- we're done with -- and there is certainly hypocrisy there.
GORANI: Thanks very much, Clarissa Ward, our chief international correspondent, just back from northern Syria.
Still to come tonight, a dangerous escalation in the Hong Kong protests. Police are trying to find out who set off a homemade bomb there. We'll be
right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Queen Elizabeth says the priority of the U.K. government has always been to secure Brexit on the 31st of October. The queen officially
opened Parliament today. Listen to the Queen's Speech.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Diamond Jubilee carriage has now left the staircase at Buckingham Palace to make its
majestic way to Westminster.
And there, we see the first sight of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
The sovereign arrives at Legislature. The State Opening of Parliament at Westminster in London is about to take place, as Queen Elizabeth II
officially opens the first full Parliament, if you like, of Boris Johnson's premiership.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): She's wearing the crown diadem today, as opposed to the State -- Imperial State Crown. No surprises there, that
crown is incredibly heavy.
QUEST (voice-over): It's been placed next to her as the sign, along with the silver Sword and the Cap of Maintenance, so all the royal regalia and
insignia is now present.
SARAH CLARKE, LADY USHER OF THE BLACK ROD, U.K. HOUSE OF COMMONS: Mr. Speaker, The Queen commands this honorable House to attend Her Majesty
immediately in the House of Peers.
ELIZABETH II: My lords, and members of the House of Commons, my government's priority has always been to secure the United Kingdom's
departure from the European Union on the 31st of October.
QUEST (voice-over): The Queen's Speech is finished. Bear in mind, as you watch this, the woman is 93 years old, is wearing some very heavy robes,
has just delivered a speech and now has to walk out, following the various bits of regalia and insignia of sovereignty, a tradition that she has done
for more than six decades.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[14:20:04]
GORANI: Well, Richard is here. And remind our viewers, the Queen's Speech is really the government's platform, going forward --
QUEST: Completely.
GORANI: -- this is not her opinion, that she's giving about October the 31st or Brexit in any way.
QUEST: She has no say in it, she has no views on it, she is merely reading the government's speech that was presented to her, printed, by the way, on
goatskin vellum, which is the tradition. They -- I have no idea why they print it on goatskin vellum, but they do.
GORANI: But -- anyway, so she talked about October 31st as the date, come what may. And we know this is what Boris Johnson has repeated, over and
over again, even though there is a law in this country that would compel the prime minister to ask for an extension if no deal is struck in Brussels
this week. Why is, then, that part of the Queen's Speech?
QUEST: We've no idea. I mean -- well, because Boris Johnson --
GORANI: (INAUDIBLE) against the law?
QUEST: No, no, no. Boris Johnson and his government -- or members of his government -- there are those who believe there are two or three ways they
can get around that you're calling -- that's called the Benn Act.
GORANI: Sure.
QUEST: The Benn Act is really simple, and we may as well get to it because we're going to discuss it many times --
GORANI: We sure are.
QUEST: -- between now and the weekend. It says this. If they do not reach a deal, at the E.U. summit, this week --
GORANI: Yes.
QUEST: -- then by Saturday night at 11:00, the British prime minister is obliged -- shall -- send a letter to the E.U. Now, that's the spark of
unreality about it all because we had today's Queen's Speech, we've got the prime minister saying he won't do it, there could be a deal. We've got no
idea how close we are to a deal.
GORANI: OK. But right now, enshrined in British law, is the obligation, right? For the prime minister to either strike a deal or ask for an
extension.
QUEST: Correct.
GORANI: How would they get around that?
QUEST: I don't know.
GORANI: OK.
QUEST: And when I asked a Tory M.P. today, who's an ardent Brexiteer, he said there are three constitutional ways we can avoid it.
GORANI: But this is splitting legal hairs, isn't it?
QUEST: Correct, correct. And even if it does succeed --
GORANI: Yes.
QUEST: -- or not, even if it does have a try, Parliament's will has been clear. Parliament does not want, at the moment, a no-deal Brexit. I think
-- you know, there are red herrings around and this is one of them. I think, ultimately, he's going to have to sign this letter because if he
doesn't --
GORANI: Yes.
QUEST: -- he will have a constitutional crisis and he will have split the country more than it already is.
GORANI: And -- and this big summit this week, it's make or break. It's come up with a deal or -- we've had many make-or-break moments. No, we've
called many moments make or break. Let me -- let me rephrase that. This one is a make or break --
QUEST: Not really.
GORANI: It must be.
QUEST: No.
GORANI: We're weeks away from October 31st.
QUEST: Yes, but as long as the -- we're back to the Benn Act.
GORANI: Yes.
QUEST: If they fail this week, the Benn Act requires him to ask for an extension --
GORANI: Yes.
QUEST: -- which, as you'll know, the Europeans will give. Macron will make a noise about it, and they'll attach -- I'm pretty certain they'll
attach a condition --
GORANI: Right.
QUEST: -- that this is the last one, pending an election.
GORANI: Meantime, this country can't focus on anything else.
QUEST: I mean, paralyzing (ph).
GORANI: It's getting nothing done.
QUEST: Nothing. I mean --
GORANI: And the economy's starting to suffer.
QUEST: Well, it is. But it's also -- if you look at the last numbers, yes, August wasn't that brilliant. But it's nowhere near as bad as one
would expect, bearing in mind what you -- what would (ph) be happening.
GORANI: This is becoming an emergency, though, for the country. It needs to come out of this.
QUEST: Oh, oh.
GORANI: Yes, yes.
QUEST: You have just quoted Boris Johnson, or paraphrased him from the weekend, when he said --
GORANI: It was not my intention -- by using the term, you mean?
QUEST: No, he said -- no. Well, he said it's time to go. We've got to get on with it and get it done.
GORANI: It's not get it done, it's resolve this division, resolve this question that has been hanging like a light cloud over the country for two
and a half years.
QUEST: Which way, Hala? Which way?
GORANI: That's not my business. It's not my --
QUEST: Well, exactly.
GORANI: -- my position to give an opinion. But it is every expert you speak with, every business person, every voter is now saying, we can't keep
being consumed by this.
QUEST: And that is what he says, the prime minister. People, he says, even those who voted to remain, are now saying, for better or worse, let's
get this thing done and move off. But it's got a long way to go. I suspect there won't be a deal this weekend, I suspect there will be, in
some shape or form --
GORANI: Yes.
QUEST: -- a technical extension, and I think we'll be looking at January. I could be completely wrong, don't take that to the bank.
GORANI: I agree with you, actually, on all those points.
QUEST: Well, I could be completely wrong.
GORANI: No -- (INAUDIBLE) timeline you propose could be the one we end up with. Thanks very much, Richard --
QUEST: Thank you.
GORANI: -- we'll see you at the top of the hour, here in London, on "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS."
The Hong Kong government is expressing regret over protestors' demands that the U.S. pass a bill in support of the pro-democracy movement.
This comes after a weekend of escalating violence. Hong Kong police say that, for the first time since the protests began, someone has detonated a
homemade bomb, which is quite worrying. Will Ripley is in Hong Kong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hong Kong police say there's only one possible reason that somebody manufactured a
homemade bomb and detonated it by remote control near a police car here in Hong Kong over the weekend.
[14:25:06]
They say that purpose was an attempt to kill police officers, and it's part of a real escalation in the kind of violence that we're seeing on the
streets. Very different, by the way, from this demonstration, where thousands of people are in central Hong Kong, peacefully protesting in
support of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which is set to be debated in the United States in the coming days.
But we have some pictures of the violence over the weekend, very different from this peaceful rally that includes video of a Hong Kong protestor jump-
kicking a riot police officer on the ground. You can see that officer fighting with several other protestors before they broke free and he walked
away.
Also, we have video of Hong Kong protestors once again vandalizing property, trashing businesses that they call blue, that they say are in
support of the government and the police.
And perhaps the most disturbing incident from the viewpoint of Hong Kong police, a police officer had his neck slashed with a sharp object by
someone that officers are calling a rioter, in protests on Sunday. That happened in a Hong Kong metro station.
After 19 weeks of consecutive demonstrations, you can see by the looks of this one that has shut down one of Hong Kong' busiest shopping districts,
the large crowds are still gathering. But now that we have this new development, a homemade explosive device, the person who manufactured it --
unknown, police are still looking for them -- but they wonder, are there more homemade bombs out there? Where will they be used?
Police say 20 petrol bombs were thrown at one Hong Kong police station over the weekend. Police are under attack, on the streets of this city.
Officers say they arrested more than 200 people over the weekend, as young as 14 years old, from ages 14 to 61.
And despite those arrests, edging nearly 3,000 so far, and new strict city laws trying to prevent people from coming out, forbidding them from wearing
masks that (ph) we see many of the people in the crowd wearing, the crowds are still coming, the protests still continuing, as is the violence.
Will Ripley, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Still to come, in the blink of an eye, Bashar al-Assad's regime began its biggest troop deployment in northern Syria in years after a
desperate invitation from the Kurds. We'll take a closer look at shifting alliances in Syria, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: It's been just over a week since U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Turkey's leaders, setting off a chain of events that are
dramatically reshaping the map in Syria after eight years of war.
[14:30:01]
Alliances are shifting fast, as the U.S. begins withdrawing troops from all of Northern Syria. Kurdish-led, SDF forces, have struck a deal with
Damascus for protection against the Turkish offensive. They would prefer to be allied with the regime of Bashar al-Assad than to face Turkey.
Russian-backed Syrian government troops are now deployed deep inside territory long held by the Kurds. This map shows who's in control of what,
at least, for now.
An SDF commander says he knows they will have to make painful compromises with Moscow and Syria's regime, but he says it's better than, quote,
genocide.
Amid all the chaos and confusion, one thing is clear, the U.S. withdrawal is a huge win for Russia, giving it a powerful hand to help shape Syria's
future and it didn't really even have to work very hard for it.
President Vladimir Putin is discussing Syria today in Saudi Arabia. He's on a state visit to Riyadh. Our Matthew Chance is live in the Saudi
capital with more.
What are the two men talking about?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hala, thanks very much. Well, of course, Syria is top of the agenda. But so too are other
issues like the oil price, like economic cooperation, like the war in Yemen.
Look, this was always going to be an important state visit for Vladimir Putin. It's all part of his strategy to rebuild Russia's sort of roll on
the international stage. But the timing of this amid such concerns at the moment about the United States commitment to the region is really
underlining how important a player Vladimir Putin and indeed Russia have become.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE (voice-over): When Washington steps back, the Kremlin and its allies step in. It's already happening in Northern Syria. But is it
starting in Saudi Arabia, too?
It's one of the questions looming over this Russian state visit, the latest high-profile sign of the Kremlin cozying up to the kingdom. Russian
officials tell me it's just a natural partnership between the world's two biggest oil exporters.
KIRILL DMITRIEV, CEO, RUSSIAN DIRECT INVESTMENT FUND: So we really believe that Russia and Saudi Arabia can be very good partners, because we share
lots of interests and common. And the stability of oil markets, also transformation of our economies that need to grow better, so we expect to
have tens of billions of joint investment projects.
CHANCE: But this is more than just another business relationship. Russia and Saudi Arabia share strong man leaders with autocratic tendencies
uncritical to each other's alleged human rights abuses. Important amid growing U.S. criticism of Saudi conduct.
Like its brutal killing of U.S.-based Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi last year, which the kingdom blames on rogue operatives. And the alleged
targeting of civilians by Saudi-led forces in its war on Houthi rebels in Yemen. The U.S. Congress even tried to cut off arms sales over the issue.
Still, this remains one of America's strongest allies, reluctant to criticize U.S. policy, even a policy to which Saudi Arabia is bitterly
opposed.
CHANCE (on-camera): Do you think it was right for the United States to abandon its Kurdish allies in this way?
ADEL AL JUBEIR, SAUDI MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: I don't think I would describe it as such. I believe that the U.S. is still working with
the -- with the Kurdish forces in the northeast of Syria, and the U.S. has to decide what its policies should be.
CHANCE: Do you agree with the Kurdish leadership that the U.S. has a moral responsibility to protect the people it's been fighting alongside?
AL JUBEIR: I haven't seen that so I'm not going to comment on it.
CHANCE (voice-over): Of course, it's Russia and the Syrian army it backs now moving to fill the vacuum left in Kurdish areas that U.S. forces
depart. That will be noticed here.
And while the U.S.-Saudi alliance remains strong, it's Putin on the red carpet right now. Saudi officials tell me the days of a single strategic
partner for the kingdom are already gone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE: Well, Hala, there's been a couple of lines come out not from Putin himself, but from the people around him in the Kremlin about Syria.
Let me just bring them to you now. Calling on Turkey to make sure their operation in Syria is proportionate to the situation and do not harm
efforts to find a solution to the eight-year conflict. Presidential spokesman also said that the Turkish military action is not exactly
compatible in his words with Syrian sovereignty. And he said that Russia would do something, although he didn't specify exactly what. Hala?
GORANI: Matthew Chance in Riyadh.
Let's talk more about the power vacuum created by this U.S. troop withdrawal and who is rushing in to fill it. As we've discussed, Russia
certainly is benefiting. Iran as well. The Assad regime.
[14:35:00]
We're joined by CNN military and diplomatic analyst, John Kirby. And Robin Wright, a contributor to the New Yorker.
Robin, what does this do to U.S. foreign policy?
ROBIN WRIGHT, CONTRIBUTOR, THE NEW YORKER: Well, it certainly is going to let a lot of allies begin to wonder about how enduring an American
commitment is.
Right up until the announcement by president Trump through his defense secretary, there was an assumption that the United States was going to stay
in some form as an adviser, a strategic player when it comes to dealing with the counterterrorism campaign against ISIS, helping our Kurdish
allies. One of the most important and effective alliances the United States has in a very troubled region.
And the decision to walk away basically almost overnight is certainly a huge win for Vladimir Putin and Russia and Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.
Assad is probably regained more territory in one day than he has in any other single day of the eight-year civil war.
GORANI: Yes, it happened very, very quickly.
John Kirby, what is the impact militarily on this -- of this U.S. troop withdrawal, do you think, on that part of the Middle East? Where does
Turkey stand vis-a-vis, the Syrian regime and the Kurds in the middle of all of this?
JOHN KIRBY, CNN MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: Well, I mean, Turkey's clearly gains. I mean, they've been wanting to get into this buffer zone
area for a long, long time, and now, they're there on the ground.
So from a military perspective, Turkey certainly is going to benefit from this in the near term. In the long-term, maybe not so much. The SDF are
now fighting back. What I think the Turks thought would be a short campaign will likely drag on for a longer period of time.
And there will be an ensuing humanitarian crisis. We're already seeing that unfold that the Turks are going to be held responsible for. At least,
in the very least, not maybe opening up avenues or corridors for humanitarian assistance. And it really begs the question about how capable
they are of doing that over a sustained period of time.
So I think militarily, the situation in northeast Syria has only gotten more complicated. And I think we're in for months and months of increasing
hostile -- increasingly difficult tensions.
GORANI: The question everyone is still asking is, what was said on that Erdogan/Trump phone call that prompted Donald Trump to so quickly make the
decision to withdraw all of these U.S. troops from Northern Syria that were serving a really important support role to the Kurds and setting in motion
this catastrophic chain of events? What was said that convinced him to do that?
KIRBY: Is that to me?
GORANI: Sorry. Robin.
KIRBY: Sorry.
WRIGHT: Well, I think President Erdogan has been incredibly skillful in gaming Donald Trump. He calls him on weekends when there are not foreign
policy advisers around.
When he called in December, Trump was out playing golf with tiger woods, and that was when the president made the first decision that he wanted to
get out of Syria. And that began the process we're now seeing culminating now. He talked to him again on a weekend, and he tries to play to
President Trump's desire to get out of the Middle East, to pull troops home.
And so this is something that is between these two men who think -- who President Erdogan is known and done very well at getting Donald Trump to do
his bidding.
GORANI: It's just interesting, because John Kirby, the entire military and political establishment, regardless of what party they're from, warned the
president that this was a bad idea. And we saw the consequences quicker than we thought, but really, it was predictable what's happening now in
Northern Syria. Were you surprised that the withdrawal happened so quickly?
KIRBY: Yes, I think I was. I mean, I think everybody was caught off guard by it. But I mean, just to pick up on what Robin was saying, I mean, this
is Trump's inclination not to be involved in difficult, messy entanglements overseas. And this is a -- this is a conflict --
GORANI: But sending troops though, John, to Saudi Arabia. I mean, he's -- like numbers-wise, he can't tell his supporters, hey, I just fulfilled a
campaign promise. I'm removing all U.S. troops from these endless wars. He's sending a couple thousand, I think, troops to Saudi Arabia.
KIRBY: Right. I'm not trying to defend this. I'm just trying to explain where I think he's going --
GORANI: No, no, I'm just -- I'm just --
KIRBY: What he's going to say to his supporters is, hey, hey, this isn't a war. We're simply sending defensive capabilities in a very small number
for a limited period of time to Saudi Arabia. And it suits his belief that Iran is at the epicenter of all the bad things in the Middle East. And
he's been very bullish, him and Pompeo on Iran. And this suits that narrative quite well.
On Syria, it's complicated, as Robin was saying, there's like seven or eight different wars going on in Syria all at once and they're now starting
to collide with one another. And I don't think Donald Trump understands or wants to understand.
Secondly, I mean, he's been frustrated with military -- the military. He's insistent on staying in Syria and Iraq, as well as Afghanistan since he
became president. And he gets frustrated every time he hears people talking about how difficult it is or how much more they want, how many
resources he wants.
[14:40:12]
I think, frankly, he's just tired of Erdogan complaining about the fact that we he haven't done enough our approach to the buffer zones have been
too anemic. And I think he just was -- I think his attitude was fine. You want it, you got it, it's your problem, I'm getting out. It's a simple
Band-Aid ripping sort of solution that's attractive to a guy like Donald Trump who was impulsive.
GORANI: But, Robin, it could be the problem for -- it could become a problem for people way beyond Syria if these ISIS fighters who have escaped
are able to somehow regroup, become a threat outside of the borders of Syria, right? Because, here you have -- and this was again, utterly
predictable, some ISIS attacks already happening. And some ISIS fighters escaping and we've also reported on people escaping from some of these
holding camps where family members of ISIS fighters are being held. Robin.
WRIGHT: Indeed. Between 20,000 and 30,000 ISIS fighters underground in Syria and in Iraq that have been engaging in an insurgency since the
caliphate was defeated in March. They are still a serious threat. And one of the great ironic tragedies of this decision is the United States is
pulling out of a campaign that was the most important in confronting Jihadi extremism. And yet, it's committed to deploying not 2,000 but 3,000 troops
and a lot of equipment in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Jihadi extremist ideology.
And, you know, history is going to effect on this period with astonishment that we made so many bad calls that actually could make us more vulnerable
rather than safer.
GORANI: And the refugees --
KIRBY: I would just add, Hala.
GORANI: Yes. Go ahead, John.
KIRBY: I would just add, Hala. That far from ending an endless war, he's actually propagating one. Because ISIS will resurge. We may very well
find ourselves having to deploy forces back into Northern Syria at some point in the future to deal with the chaos that he's now leaving behind.
GORANI: And, John, I wanted to ask you also about these refugees. Turkey hosts millions of Syrian refugees.
KIRBY: They do.
GORANI: Some of them could be returned to this buffer zone area or other parts of Northern Syria displaced for, I don't know, you know, the
umpteenth time. What happens to them? This is a civilian disaster once again.
KIRBY: It is, and it's very -- it's unclear, exactly, what's going to happen to them. You know, send them in to that buffer zone to where? Many
of those towns are now being emptied themselves by people that are being displaced internally in Syria. And some of those cities, as we've seen in
our own footage are being destroyed. There's no refugee camps in northeast Syria. There's no place for these people to go. It will just exacerbate
the already looming humanitarian crisis in that part of Syria.
Some 15 aid agencies, over the weekend, said there's already 150,000 plus people that are displaced among the half million that live in that region
already. So there's no good answers for this. And I haven't seen no leadership coming from the United States in terms of how we would
participate in it, much less any assurances that humanitarian aid would even be allowed to get in.
There's simply no capacity in the Turkish military to do that right now. First of all, it's not -- doctrinally, it doesn't matter to them in this
effort, that's not what they're after, they're after the Kurds and the PKK, in particular. And there's no assurances that they'll have the
sustainability over a period of months to actually allow aid to flow.
GORANI: All right. John Kirby and Robin Wright, thanks so much to both of you for joining us.
KIRBY: You bet.
GORANI: A thought now on what we've witnessed over the last 48 hours, what took years to develop and take hold in Northern Syria, a Kurdish
administered region relatively stable, and a neutralization of the so- called ISIS caliphate, unraveled so quickly that experienced Syria observers were left stunned.
After the U.S. abandoned the SDF fighters, Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, got what he wanted with the sudden demise of the Kurdish state let
on his doorstep. The Assad regime and his backers in Iran and Russia, are once again in control of large parts of the country they've been kept out
of by the Kurds and their American allies.
But it is important to note that this is not just the Trump administration's doing. For years before the U.S. stood back as the Assad
regime gassed and slaughtered its people after failing to act on the Obama administration's own crossed red lines. This is only the latest example of
American inaction, leaving a power vacuum that Russia has very eagerly filled.
The people of the region don't want the United States to nation build which is something I read on Twitter quite a lot defending inaction. They simply
wanted it to use its influence to stop the slaughter. We were truly now in a post-American Middle East, it's now other powers that will decide the
fate of the region's long-suffering civilians. And we will continue to follow it.
[14:45:04]
Still to come tonight, outrage is growing after a Fort Worth, Texas woman was shot and killed in her own home by a police officer. Her family is
demanding answers. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: In Texas, the family of an African-American woman fatally shot by a white police officer in her own home is speaking out. They're calling
for an independent investigation. Police say the officer did not identify himself before opening fire.
And as Mandy Gaither (ph) reports, an outraged community is now demanding answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWD: Now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we want?
CROWD: Justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When do we want it?
CROWD: Now.
MANDY GAITHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Less than two days after Atatiana Jefferson was killed, a vigil was held near her Fort Worth, Texas home,
where the 28-year-old woman was shot inside through her window around 2:30 Saturday morning.
Heavily edited body cam video released by Fort Worth police shows officers searching the outside of Jefferson's home after a concerned citizen saw the
doors opened and called a nonemergency number for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands up, we're coming in.
Neighbor James Smith says he waited outside after calling police and never heard them identify themselves as officers.
JAMES SMITH, JEFFERSON'S NEIGHBOR: I called because I was concerned for my neighbor's safety and well-being. I feel guilty because had I not called
the Fort Worth police department, my neighbor would still be alive today.
GAITHER: In addition to the edited video, police released two still photos of what they say is a firearm inside Jefferson's house.
At a Sunday news conference, police spokesman, Lieutenant Brandon O'Neil, declined to say whether the officer who shot Jefferson believed she was
armed at the time.
LT. BRANDON O'NEIL, POLICE SPOKESMAN, FORT WORTH POLICE: The officer did not announce that he was a police officer prior to shooting. What the
officer observed and why he did not announce police will be addressed as the investigation continues.
GAITHER: I'm Mandy Gaither, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, a short time ago, a few minutes ago, in fact, the Fort Worth mayor called Jefferson's killing unjustified. And the police department
went on to say that the officer has since resigned and could face criminal charges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED KRAUS, INTERIM CHIEF, FORT WORTH POLICE DEPARTMENT: Aaron Dean I.D. 4598, was the officer who responded to the call and fired the shot that
killed Atatiana. He was hired by the department on August 21st, 2017 and commissioned as a licensed peace officer on April 13th, 2018.
Despite his resignation, the officer still faces criminal charges from the major case investigation. I personally checked on the progress of that
case repeatedly, and I anticipate a substantial update to provide you no later than tomorrow.
Additionally, we have also presented a preliminary case to the FBI to review the officer's actions for possible civil rights violations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[14:50:01]
GORANI: We'll follow the story and bring you developments on it.
Quick update on the impeachment inquiry in the U.S. Lawmakers are returning to Capitol Hill from a two-week recess launching a critical week
of testimony in the inquiry. Among the key people to be interviewed this week -- well, today, it's Mr. Trump's former Russia advisor, Fiona Hill.
Later this week, it'll be U.S. ambassador to the E.U., Gordon Sondland who was blocked, you might remember, by the State Department last week. Well,
he's scheduled to go again. We'll see if that takes place.
The probe was launched after a whistleblower claimed that Mr. Trump abused his power by pressuring the Ukrainian government to investigate his
political opponent, Joe Biden.
And a quick programming note now, tomorrow night, we hear from the Democrats running for president in the United States. Look at the lineup
on your screen. They will take to the debate stage right here on CNN, that's starting at 8:00 P.M. Tuesday in Washington, and that's 1:00 A.M.
here in London.
For all of you night owl, we'll be replaying it the next day, analyzing it, of course, as well the next day.
And to Ecuador now, word on that, there is new hope that violent protests are coming to an end there. The government has reached an agreement with
indigenous leaders over austerity measures.
CNN's George Howell has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): Scenes of jubilation lit the streets of Ecuador. After nearly two weeks of protests, the
Ecuadorian government and indigenous groups, sat down for talks on Sunday, a four-hour meeting that resulted in an unexpected deal, canceling a
controversial austerity package and reintroducing fuel subsidies worth an estimated $1.5 billion.
A deadly wave of unrest roiled the country since the government announced they would cut fuel subsidies, greatly impacting rural communities. An
agreement was badly needed. Downtown Quito looked like a battlefield. Inspire of a curfew, security forces were unable to drive protesters away.
Protesters used rocks as weapons, while security forces responded with tear gas. Roadblocks in the capital city and elsewhere caused shortages of food
and other items.
Indigenous groups have led the protests. But others, especially laborers and drivers directly affected by the fuel prices, participated as well.
This affects us all, this protester says. We're poor people with families and have no means to take the hikes.
Others went as far as calling the government of President Lenin Moreno enemies of the people.
LENIN MORENO, PRESIDENT OF ECUADOR (through translator): An agreement doesn't mean to win it all. An agreement means to concede, to concede
something. That's why I say there is not much left to say. It's so great that the word that has been so used in these talks has been the word peace.
HOWELL: Moreno praised the breakthrough agreement as a productive step forward, a newly formed commission representing all parties still needs to
pass a law that all sides agree on. But for now, indigenous activists are celebrating this victory.
George Howell, CNN Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: When we come back, the world recently witnessed a flurry of impressive achievements in sport. One previously thought impossible. And
a 22-year-old powerhouse dominates the world championships. We'll have that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:55:07]
GORANI: As we close tonight, amazing stories of achievement in sports. Not our normal fare, I don't usually talk about sports stories. But it's
been so impressive and so many world records were set that I wanted to highlight a few of them.
To start, Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge, the first person ever to compete a marathon in under two hours. The 34-year-old beat the mark by 20 seconds.
Now, it has to be said, he did have some help. He was surrounded by professional runners forming a wind breaker. And that green mark on the
ground, it's a car setting the pace with a laser marker. So critics say Kipchoge set a fake record, but he doesn't appear fazed and says he us the
happiest man. He still ran a marathon in under two hours.
Fellow Kenyan, Brigid Kosgei though, well, she set a new mark for women's running. This is a real recognized world record. She not only won the
Chicago marathon Sunday for the second year in a row, but she beat a 16- year-old record by a full 81 seconds. Her time was just a fraction over two hours and 14 minutes.
And last but not least, because she's literally the very best, that's American gymnast, Simone Biles in Germany, she is now the all-time most
decorated gymnast in the world, male or female. She surpassed the record held by the Byelorussian, Vitaly Scherbo, during the balance beam event
with her 24th world championship medal.
Biles later won a 25th in the floor exercise. Because why not? Just add a 25th medal while you're at it. Who's counting anymore?
Simone Biles and to all of the great athletes this weekend, I have to say, I did watch that arrival, that Kipchoge 1:59:40 time a few times. And I
don't really care that he had a pacer car. He did it.
Thanks for watching tonight. Stay with CNN. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
