Helping to Explain the Qatar Crisis; May Vows To Push Ahead; Mosul Set to Rebuild
BECKY ANDERSON, CONNECT THE WORLD HOST: Tonight, a very public tour and a very secret set of files. CNN's reporting right in the mix, helping explain this Qatar crisis. And you've got to wonder why these erstwhile gulf allies are choosing now to double down. Plus, the pop star, Ms. Universe, Russia, and Donald Trump in a circle together, we'll unpack that report just ahead.</s>NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: After the mosques, the propaganda, now we finally see what the Iraqi soldiers say is the true human and defeated face of ISIS.</s>ANDERSON: With ISIS all but crushed in the city, Mosul is set for another battle, rebuilding itself. We get you on the ground right there. A very warm welcome. It is just after 7 o'clock in Abu Dhabi. This is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. Executive mechanisms, supplementary grievance, violations of charters there is an awful lot of syllables being thrown around here in the gulf to signal one very simple fact. Neither side on the Qatar crisis is backing down. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in the gulf trying to move things forward. He says.</s>REX TILLERSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We're hopeful we can make some progress to begin to bring this to a point of resolution. I think Qatar has been quite clear in its positions and I think those have been very reasonable. We want to talk now how do we take things forward. And that's my purpose in coming.</s>ANDERSON: Right now, Doha and the four Arab states lined up against it are waging a war of words including around CNN's exclusive reporting on agreements Qatar and its neighbors signed in 2013 and 2014. The details were secret until now. Both sides pointing to the document, saying, see, this proves you are in the wrong. CNN's U.S. chief security correspondent Jim Sciutto obtained those documents. He is joining me now from Washington and correspondent Jomana Karadsheh is with us from Amman. She has recently returned from a deployment in Qatar. Jim, these documents were secret before you obtained them. Now, both sides have been publicly reacting and commenting on CNN's reporting. Why are these documents so key to understanding the roots of this crisis? And what does the timing of their release mean?</s>JIM SCIUTTO, CNN U.S. CHIEF SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, it gives you such a remarkable view inside these extremely important high level relationships going back to 2013. After all, a handwritten agreement signed by the royals of these countries, of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait and then in 2014 adding Bahrain, UAE, and Abu Dhabi. At the most senior levels, you see that for a number of years now, there have been deep, deep disagreements about who is responsible for what. And in fact, not too thinly veiled accusations, many of them directed at Qatar for continuing to support opposition groups, deviant groups as they're described in here, including it appears terrorist groups, opposition groups within the countries in the gulf region, other groups outside the region in Egypt, Yemen, and elsewhere. It shows you that this has been an issue for some time. And great effort was made at the highest levels in private, in secret, to try to make progress on these issues. And yet now three and four years later, they are coming out in public, as we've seen with the blockade and now with the release of these agreements, and in effect giving fuel to both sides, right. As you say, Becky, both sides pointing to the other to say you did not fulfill your agreements, your commitments here and neither did you. And I think, listen, let's be honest. These agreements coming to the fore in public light because some sides in this division want to make a point, right, about where they think the mistakes were made and who is responsible. Really remarkable to see these laid out in such stark form and so public from what were really the most private senior meetings, senior level meetings, that really could be possible there.</s>ANDERSON: And Jim, Washington's top diplomat, Rex Tillerson says he is in region to help deescalate this crisis, but his comments about Qatar's position being reasonable as somewhat of a surprise, certainly to I would expect the other side of this. And in stark contrast, it seems at least, two messaging from the White House. Your thoughts?</s>SCIUTTO: Yeah. It's remarkable. Tillerson has two mountains to climb here in effect. I mean, he has got the mountain of trying to bring these divided parties closer to together, at least finding a path to bring them closer together, really just to avoid escalation. But he has this other mountain in that his commander-in-chief some weeks ago basically via Twitter, as is his way, put himself on one side of this division. President Trump tweeting accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism, et cetera, after his visit to Saudi Arabia. Now, you have the Secretary of State coming in and saying listen, the U.S. is going to be a mediator here. He's not saying explicitly ignore what the president said, but to sit down there next to the Mayor Qatar and call their positions reasonable, you can't have a more diametrically opposed position to what your commander-in-chief said just a number of weeks ago. And this is you know, Becky, and we have talked about this on a number of things, there's a frequent dynamic here where the president will go one way and his senior staff will go another. The question is where is the real power center in the policy and that must be very difficult for the gulf nations to deal with, because they will say, I imagine, well, the president was just here and he said X and now you or here and you're saying Y. You know, how do we circle that square, as it were?</s>ANDERSON: Jomana, you were in Doha recently for an extended period reporting on this crisis. Rex Tillerson told Qatar that said he's around these parts as everyone's friend. Have a listen.</s>TILLERSON: Yes, I'm here as a friend to the region. I'm here with.</s>ANDERSON: I'm here as a friend to the region, he said. He may be the only friendly face around them at this point. There is really no love lost here in region at present. What has changed and what was this once close GCC club?</s>JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's very interesting, Becky, to see, you know, the changes. If you look at these documents that Jim has been reporting on, it's interesting to see what Qatar seemed to agree to in 2013, 2014. Perhaps an indication of these issues reemerging every time we see some sort of change in power or change in succession lines in this region. Back in 2013, 2014, when these agreements were signed, this is when you saw that transition of power taking place in Qatar when Sheikh Hamad, the father of the current emir, handed over power to his son. And Sheikh Hamad was seen as the man, he was credited for transforming Qatar, he was seen as -- you know, Qatar under his rule emerged as a very influential regional and international player. And that time, when Qatar really emerged as a source of irritation for its bigger and stronger neighbors like Saudi Arabia and the UAE. And it was also that time when those agreements were signed, Becky, as you know, it was King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the last agreement signed just weeks before his death. So, now, we're seeing these issues reemerge. As Jim pointed out, this is not something new. This has been going on for some time. And this is at a time we're seeing this change in Saudi Arabia right now with a new crown prince coming into power. Some see him as having a more confrontational foreign policy. So you do have people in the region today for example some Qataris who are wondering if these countries had this issues with Qatar, if they believe that Qatar was not complying with what it agreed to back in 2013, 2014. Why is this only coming out three years later, why is it coming out as they're seeing this change in Saudi Arabia and a new U.S. administration, Becky?</s>ANDERSON: Jomana Karadsheh today reporting to you out of Amman, and Jim out of Washington. Thank you so much, both of you. From a war of words here to a real war in the Middle East after three years, at last, Mosul is finally free the grip of ISIS. Iraqis have been celebrating after the prime there declared victory on Monday, the months of fighting taking an obvious toll. Parts of the once thriving city now just look like a wasteland. Rubble and debris where once buildings stood. Nick Paton Walsh was in Mosul as the final fight to free the city played out.</s>WALSH: It's like something supernatural or other worldly did it. This destruction, absolutely breathtaking and really a sign of the dust and bones that ISIS have left in their wake. Old city, Mosul, the damage new, the city gone. And Mosul, almost free of ISIS. Elsewhere, Iraqis are celebrating victory, dancing in the streets. Yet, here, the streets are still being ground to rubble. In the last 100 yards of ISIS, the group that once held swaths of Iraq and Syria, down here to the dust, we're told. There it is. The river that runs through the heart of Mosul that marks the end of ISIS territory in Iraq, really. But between these Iraqi special forces and the body of water marks victory are still just dozens of ISIS fighters still holding out. American air strikes hammered them. That's the intensity and proximity of the fighting here that air strikes are called in right next to Iraqi forces. They even feel the rubble landing in their faces. Perhaps because this really is the end, some of them appear to give themselves up. A sniper still there. They're welcomed. Carry him, carry him, the commander shouts. After the mosques, now we finally see what the Iraqi soldiers say is the true human and defeated face of ISIS. This man appears like he has a disability and is asked how he got here. ISIS forced me here, he insists. They fought the world's war on ISIS here in Mosul and now casually pass dead fighters. How does it feel?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels dark. I try to run the operations here after this all nine months.</s>WALSH: Brigadier General al-Asadi planted the Iraqi flag that says on the river bank, they fall. But this isn't a battle of flags anymore. But for ISIS, the smaller cells of survival. So the fight went on even as the official declaration from Iraq's prime minister announced victory. So it will be for Iraq in the years ahead.</s>ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh now east of Mosul, how does the city rebuild after all that devastation, Nick?</s>WALSH: It is a devastating task for already a devastated city, Becky. We are talking really about a demolition job that initially needs to occur. I'm not a construction engineer, but it's pretty clear it looks like the surface of the moon. This is rubble that is littered the booby traps, even the corps of ISIS fighters and sadly, we have many civilians killed during the intensity of the fighting being held there as human shields by ISIS. So a very staunch task there in the old city where we understand still that there are clashes continuing with small pockets of ISIS fighters, even now still holding out. That's the old city. It's small but it's symbolic for the city itself. The broader issue is how one gets infrastructure and reconstruction going. It's remarkable actually, two miles away from the fighting, you can see people on the streets selling their wares again, grilled chicken, paint shops, traffic jams, signs of life in every street, and obviously a tale of its own suffering. The major task for Baghdad, Becky, now is to get money and assistance in quickly and security, too. This is still an active conflict area, still very much threatened by ISIS' low level insurgence. We will continue for months ahead. And of course, remember as well, there are other towns in the country, in which they do still have a presence involving military operation. So it is a huge task ahead.</s>ANDERSON: Yeah. And this is going to take some time. Amnesty International said Iraqi and coalition forces didn't do enough to protect civilians who were caught up in the cross fire. Is that a fair assessment, you think?</s>WALSH: It's difficult to know in a war like this, but it is not fair, to some degree. Amnesty's job obviously is to appeal for human rights and say more should have been done. The coalition said they did all they could. And in fairness, frankly, when ISIS are bent or desperate to take as many civilian lives with them as they could in worship. Death is part of a cult- like behavior that's the center of their warped creeds, then it's difficult to imagine how you could save many lives. We have seen civilians come out of the rubble. We have seen the accuracy of the air strikes trying to target ISIS fighters. It's an awfully difficult, messy business, warfare, particularly in an urban environment when civilians are caught in between. Yet, in theory, I'm sure everybody could have done more by simply not advancing militarily. But as on coalition spokesperson points out, when it came to the fight for the old city, those civilians trapped as human shields faced starvation. There was a clock ticking on that. They were running out of food and water. So you have to bear that in mind. There is a pace that needs to be delivered in terms of military operation, to save lives from being lost. So many circumstances here, easy to point the finger, easy to blame, no consolation from a lack of that from those families of those whose lives were lost as innocent civilians in this, too. But frankly, an impossible task taking ISIS on in an urban area like that. I think pretty much everybody does accept that, Becky.</s>ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh out of Mosul now. It is 11:16 in the evening, 7:16 here was declared a victory in Mosul. What's next for coalition forces? The answer is Raqqa in Syria. It is the self-declared ISIS capital. CNN journalists were the first inside the walls of Raqqa's old city. Now, we take you to the front lines of the battle against the terror group there. Tune in, 11 pm Abu Dhabi time, 8 pm in London right here on CNN. Still to come, a new report says Donald Trump, Jr., left out a critical detail in his statements about a meeting with a Russian attorney last year. We're going to see what the New York Times is saying about a potentially explosive e-mail just ahead.