Urkraine Returns 10 Russian Soldiers; UK Terror Threat; Showy on the Road
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. The top stories for you this hour. Ukraine has sent 10 Russian paratroopers home after negotiations for a swap. The Russian soldiers were captured on Ukrainian soil, but Russia denying that they were sent there to fight with pro-Russian separatists. Moscow says it returned more than 60 captured Ukrainian soldiers. Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for an attack (inaudible) the capital of Somalia. A car bomb and gunmen targeted a prison. One civilian and two soldiers were killed, along with eight al-Shabaab members. Violent protests continue in Pakistan. Two people killed overnight when demonstrators threatened to march on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's house, demanding his resignation. Mr. Sharif refuses to step down in the light of allegations of corruption. A huge victory for a northern Iraqi town surrounded, until now, at least, by ISIS militants. Iraqi security forces have broken what is an ISIS siege around the town of Amerli. This comes after US-led airstrikes on militant positions surrounding the town. An international humanitarian airlift now underway, and the Iraqi air force has been evacuating women and children, as you can see here in these images. US president Barack Obama preparing to head to the UK for next week's NATO summit. ISIS likely to feature high on the agenda, of course, especially after Mr. Obama's comments about not having a strategy yet for airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria. Let's get you to Washington. Erin McPike is standing by at the White House with more on Obama's options. And it's options we have to discuss, here, Erin, because the president has been more than willing to announce to the world, and I guess to the ISIS militants, that he doesn't have any answers as of yet. Slightly odd strategy, some might say.</s>ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, that's right. And what you'll hear from the White House and from the Obama administration broadly speaking is that they are finding some success with what they have done in Iraq with regards to ISIS. But they don't yet know how to handle ISIS on the whole, and especially as ISIS relates to Syria. And I want to play for you the exact comment that President Obama made on Thursday that's getting so much attention in Washington and around the world right now. Take a listen.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't want to put the cart before the horse. We don't have a strategy yet.</s>MCPIKE: Now, what's happened since then is that Secretary of State John Kerry wrote a lengthy op-ed in "The New York Times" that was published on Saturday, and it essentially lays out that the United States wants to get international partners onboard, allies to the United States, in the fight to stop ISIS. And to that end, so far, Australia has committed some help to the United States, they will be transporting equipment, arms, munitions at the request of the US government, but Australia has not yet said that it will take on a larger military role. But if the United States does ask for that, the prime minister of Australia said that they will consider that, and it has to meet certain criteria. But just yesterday, that comment from Australian prime minister Tony Abbott is certainly some momentum for the Obama administration as it tries to lay out a strategy. And of course, the president is weighing options from the Pentagon right now, but they haven't had anything specific, and they're going to try to get a number of other countries onboard before then coming back to Congress.</s>ANDERSON: Yes.</s>MCPIKE: Congress returns September 8th. But this may take a few weeks before we see what's really going to happen, Becky.</s>ANDERSON: So, we got the president over in Eastern Europe and then at NATO, which is Cardiff, Whales, towards the end of the week, I believe, that Secretary of State John Kerry also traveling out of the US in order to sort of corral this coalition of the willing. But listen, Erin, I can't remember the last time a leadership told the enemy that they will be discussing their options through the month -- and we are talking through the end of the UN General Assembly, here, which is towards the end of September. Doesn't this give ISIS a whole load of time to effectively create havoc in this region before the US and its allies come up with something concrete?</s>MCPIKE: Well, Becky, absolutely, and that's been a lot of the commentary that we've heard, especially from Republicans this morning on a number of public affairs program that we've been seeing in the United States today. Specifically, Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger was on "State of the Union" this morning with Candy Crowley, and he made that very point that by saying that we do not have a strategy, what the president said about the United States, that they are telegraphing to ISIS, to the enemy, that they have plenty of time to develop their next strategy as well.</s>ANDERSON: Yes, fascinating stuff. All right, we're going to leave it there for the time being. This story will gain momentum as we move through the week. As Erin rightly pointed out, the NATO meeting towards the end of the week in Cardiff. Before that, the US president and his secretary of state traveling pretty extensively to try and get this coalition of the willing together. Well, in the UK, the government has reacted to the growing threat of ISIS by raising the threat level to what's known as "severe." CNN's Karl Penhaul took to the streets of the British capital to find out how that is being received. Have a look at this.</s>KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Britain is on high alert. The government is telling us that a jihadi attack is highly likely, so we've come down to the streets of central London to see if there are signs of panic. This is Kings Cross train station, one of the busiest in the country.</s>JODI O'ROURKE, EVENTS MANAGER: Everyone just gets on with their everyday life, don't they?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it's going to happen, it will happen</s>O'ROURKE: Yes, what happens, what happens. You don't think every time you get on the train if there's anything going to happen.</s>DILL SHAWKI, PHD STUDENT: Yes, I think it's just trying to make people scared, really. That's all it is. Make people scared, and then they'll -- they're more likely to support something if the government then eventually did try to go into Iraq.</s>PENHAUL (voice-over): Britain's no stranger to home-grown terror plots. In 2005, in the so-called 7/7 Attacks, four suicide bombers killed 52 people in London.</s>CARL TOON, TOURIST: If you'd let things like that rule your life, you'd never do anything. So although you're aware of it and you hope that the government's on top of the situation, you're just going to take it on trust that they are.</s>PENHAUL (on camera): Police chiefs are saying they'll step up patrols in public places, like train stations, airports, and tourist hot spots like here, in Trafalgar Square. But Saturday afternoon, there was no sign of that except -- You're the one that's getting married.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.</s>PENHAUL (voice-over): This group of young women, out on a pre-wedding hen party dressed as British bobbies.</s>PENHAUL (on camera): But Cameron's pledge o crack down on radical Islam is leaving some feeling uneasy, fearing that it could turn into a witch hunt against all Muslims.</s>ANTARA MUHAJIMI, STUDENT: It's like in movies when alien invasion, the first thing people think about is attacking them. That's exactly the same with us. They don't know why they do it or what it is that we want from them, so they go and attack it because they don't know it.</s>JAHID AHMED, CIVIL SERVANT: Yes, there is radicalism, but that exists in every community, and not just Islam. But Islam has been focused and used as a scapegoat.</s>DAVID CAMERON, PRIME MINISTER OF BRITAIN: We are in the middle of a generational struggle.</s>PENHAUL (voice-over): Mr. Cameron said he could announce new measures to parliament this week. No word on how long the heightened terror alert could last. Karl Penhaul, CNN, London.</s>ANDERSON: What do you think about the rise of ISIS, or as the call themselves, the Islamic States in Syria and in Iraq? Do you think the international community needs to do more to defeat them? Well, we want to hear from you, it's your show. Get in touch with me or you can tweet me @BeckyCNN. Use Facebook or tweet me @BeckyCNN. Finally, here in the Emirates, fast cars and big money come as standard. Those of you who've traveled to the Gulf will know that. Below where I am standing now, there is little surprise in seeing a Ferrari or a Porsche or two parked up. And Dubai police have famously added a Lamborghini and a Bugatti to their showy fleet. Well, the latter valued at about $1.6 million and can travel up to 250 kilometers per hour. And while it might not turn too many heads around here in the UAE, a Bugatti can make quite a splash in the United States. Jeanne Moos explains.</s>JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hey! Did you see that? That is a Bugatti. And since this ultra-expensive super car is rarely seen, no wonder a guy riding near Galveston, Texas, five years ago whipped out his camera when he saw one.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That will be mine one day.</s>MOOS: I don't think you want this one, not after what happens next.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh. Oh! He's going to be wet. Oh (expletive deleted)! Oh (expletive deleted)!</s>MOOS: The Bugatti slammed into a salt water marsh, driven by a dealer of high-end cars named Andy House.</s>MOOS (on camera): House first told police he dropped his cell phone, reached down to get it, and when he sat back up, he was distracted by a low-flying pelican, which he tried to avoid by jerking the wheel.</s>MOOS (voice-over): But that excuse was for the birds, because this week --</s>CHRIS TORTORICE, ASSISTANT US ATTORNEY: Andy House plead guilty to one count of wire fraud.</s>MOOS: The assistant US attorney says House bought the Bugatti for $1 million, took out a car collector's insurance policy worth $2.2 million, and intentionally totaled the car. House didn't turn off the engine so salt water would ruin it. House's excuse for not turning it off?</s>TORTORICE: Well, he said the mosquitoes were really bad, but they're not so bad that you need to bail out of a car like it's on fire.</s>MOOS: But Bugatti is the type of car rappers rap about.</s>ACE HOOD (rapping): I woke up in a new Bugatti.</s>MOOS: Though it's so unusual, it's hard to identify.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm pretty sure it's a Lambo, dude.</s>MOOS: Uh, no, not a Lamborghini. That "Lambo" line became a catch phrase.</s>TORTORICE: "I think it's a Lambo, dude."</s>MOOS: The assistant US attorney called the 24-second videotape of the crash the cornerstone of his case. It shows there was no pelican to avoid and no brake lights.</s>MOOS (on camera): What are the chances of having a video of this happening?</s>TORTORICE: If there were a Mount Rushmore of bad luck, I think Andy House's face would be on it.</s>MOOS (voice-over): Though there's a 20-year maximum for wire fraud, a more likely sentence is a year or two. There was vindication for one much- maligned character. One poster noted, "Finally, after all these years, that poor, innocent pelican is off the hook." Even the tow truck guy bows to the Bugatti, washing his hands in the marsh before daring to touch the wheel. Bugatti? Bu-gotcha. Jeanne Moos,</s>CNN -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh (expletive deleted)! Oh (expletive deleted)!</s>MOOS: -- New York.</s>ANDERSON: Oh. That's just so wrong, isn't it? I'm Becky Anderson, that was CONNECT THE WORLD. Thank you for watching. We'll be back in about a quarter of an hour with your headlines.