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CNN International: Syria's Rebels Appoint Caretaker PM to Oversee Transition; Israel Launches Airstrikes Across Syria; Luigi Mangione Arrested, Charged with Brian Thompson's Murder; Artificial Intelligence Startups on the Rise in UAE; Holders Real Madrid Face Tough Atlanta Test. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired December 10, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Jubilation and uncertainty. These are live pictures of Damascus. CNN is on the ground there as ordinary

Syrians express their hopes for the country's next steps after decades of dictatorship. It is 06:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi. It's 05:00 p.m. in Damascus.

I'm Eleni Giokos, and this is "Connect the World". Also happening this hour, Netanyahu on the stand. The Israeli Prime Minister testifies for the

first time in his long running corruption trial. We're live in Tel Aviv this hour. And charged with murder, a 26-year-old man is arrested in the

brazen killing of a U.S. health care CEO, what we're learning about the suspects, background and possible motive.

Well, the stock markets in New York are going to open in around 30 minutes. Let's check in to see how those futures are doing. As you can see, a mixed

bag that's after the S&P and NASDAQ pull back from record highs. We're seeing a slightly softer reality right now, as you can see, basically on

the flat line with the DOW Jones 0.2 percent in the red.

Well, the rebel coalition in Syria is moving forward to consolidate power. It is named a caretaker prime minister to oversee the transition for the

next three months. This after the rebels met with the former prime minister, who agreed to hand over power and cooperate with the coalitions

of groups that toppled Bashar Al Assad.

Now under the brutal Assad regime, Syrians were tortured, imprisoned and impoverished. Now the new government is bringing new hope for change. CNN's

Clarissa Ward has been out on the streets of Damascus, where people are still celebrating.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The first couple of days we were here, the streets were pretty subdued. There was a lot of

anxiety. And today we're really seeing people are out and they are celebrating. Take a look behind me, all these young people, they are

celebrating.

They are posing for photographs, holding up their babies to show with rebel fighters. And I actually wanted to bring in, I've just been talking here

with this young Syrian woman, Judy (ph). Tell me how this -- feels.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you can -- is this working?

WARD: Yes. It's working. Look at me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you can see, this is 50 years of silence. This is the reaction. 50 years he kept us in the dark. He kept us in the death.

This is the reaction of the Syrian people after 50 years of this regime, of this death, of this darkness. This is the new generation that will come out

to the light now. This is the reaction.

WARD: How does it feel for you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For me as a 25 years old daughter, this is my father and this is my mother. This is unspeakable reaction. This is me coming to

delight again. It's the rebirth of the Syrian people again.

WARD: Did you ever imagine?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

WARD: After 14 years?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, no. For me, it's been 13 years. For my dad, it's been 50 years.

WARD: -- see. Look behind you. You see, rebel fighters with their technical, with their big weapons.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is victory. This is the happiness I have never witnessed before. I've been living 13 years in war, in death and darkness,

and this is amazing. This is unspeakable, actually. This is -- here you can see the breath of freedom. This is absolutely amazing.

This is -- I hope we can do more. This is only the beginning. This it has to be a mess in the beginning, but I'm sure we can do something more and

more in the future.

WARD: Thank you so much, Judy (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much.

WARD: And it really is sort of wonderful, honestly, to hear that kind of optimism. Because as I mentioned, those first couple of days, those first

few days, a lot of tension, a lot of anxiety, some chaos and looting in the beginning. Now that there is a degree of calm and control in the city, who

are seeing people come out.

And finally, just this outpouring of jubilation after more than 50 years under the totalian regime, totalitarian regime, Bashar Al Assad and Hafez

Al Assad, his father before him, after 14 years of the most brutal and ugly Civil War. These people want the world to know that Syria is -- and it's

beginning a new challenge.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Right. Clarissa Ward there in the streets of Syria, Damascus. And I have to say, I mean, we are seeing so many images, incredible emotion.

[09:05:00]

We've got Paula Hancocks with us. Has been tracking the story. And one of the biggest developments right now is this new caretaker prime minister

that has just been announced, Mohammed Al Bashir. What do we know about him?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, he is, or was, until several moments ago, he was the prime minister of the salvation government. So, this was

the rebel led government, if you like. It was based up in the north west, in Idlib. It was affiliated with HTS, the main rebel group.

And he had been prime minister of that group, that government, since the beginning of this year. So, he's had that amount of time of governing on a

much smaller scale, and he was a minister beforehand as well. We know he's an engineer by trade. He hasn't specified any policies at this point.

He has said that what he will do is he will be a transition prime minister for three months, and they will be working with some of the ministers of

the outgoing Assad regime as well to try and create this smooth transition. But what we can do is we can look at Idlib.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

HANCOCKS: We can see what the situation was like there. There was no strict Sharia law that was introduced. For example, we didn't see mandated head

scarf wearing. We didn't see, you know, banning of smoking, there was nothing like that that we on the face of it could see, obviously, from a

distance.

But of course, it's not to say what they will do in the future. But we did hear something interesting from Abu Mohammed al-Julani, that the Head of

HTS as well, saying that those who have been governing in Idlib have experience pointing out that they worked with nothing, so that they didn't

have the resources, they had to try and build this infrastructure from nothing.

GIOKOS: Yeah. It's really fascinating to see this, because everyone is asking about what post Assad Syria will look like caretaker prime minister

now in place. I also want to take a look at what's happening near the Golan Heights, the buffer zone IDF moving in. There are reports that the IDF was

moving even further into Syria, closer Damascus. What are you hearing right now?

HANCOCKS: Yes. So, this is a Syrian activist group called the voice of the capital, and they say that they believe that the IDF has actually reached

an area which is several kilometers beyond this buffer zone. Now, CNN cannot independently confirm that, the Israeli military denies that that's

the case, but that is some 25 kilometers from Damascus.

So, we are hearing these reports, and what we're also hearing is criticism of Israel from the U.N. Special Envoy to Syria, for example, saying that

Israel is carrying out these air strikes in Damascus. It has to stop. It has to stop immediately. We're hearing from many nations around us.

Here in the region, saying that Israel is taking advantage of Syria's instability, and some even suggesting it's a land grab. Now what we're

hearing from Israel is that they are trying to make sure that weapons, that chemical weapons, as well, do not fall into what they call the hands of the

extremists.

So, they say that they have specifically been targeting long range missiles, rockets that the remnants of chemical weapons capabilities to try

and make sure that it is not used against them.

GIOKOS: Well, Paula Hancocks, really good to see you. Thank you so much for breaking that down for us. Moving on now and the Rebels say they are

compiling a list of those who commit a torture under Bashar Al Assad and promised they will be punished. Some of that torture was carried out at a

Syrian prison known as the slaughterhouse of the facility has been searched for any inmates still trapped inside. We hear again from our Clarissa Ward.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WARD (voice-over): The stream of families never stops climbing towards Syria's most notorious Saydnaya Prison, pushed on by reports that thousands

of people imprisoned by the regime of Bashar Al Assad are still trapped alive in a section underground. The red section of the prison they've been

trying for days to reach it Masoon Labut (ph) tells us.

There's no oxygen because the ventilation went out, and so they all may die. For the sake of Allah, help them.

WARD: Is someone from your family in the prison?

WARD (voice-over): My three brothers and my son in law, she says. The roads are choked with cars full of people looking for loved ones. As soon as they

see our camera, they approach holding lists of names of those who vanished inside Assad's dungeons never to be seen again.

You have to get them out before tomorrow, this man says. They don't have food. They don't have water.

[09:10:00]

WARD: Everybody has just started running. It's not clear if they have managed to get into this part of the prison.

WARD (voice-over): My God, my God, the woman prays, my God, as the crowd surges towards the prison.

WARD: So, it looks like they think that they have managed to get access a lot of celebratory gun fire. people have us flooding in.

WARD (voice-over): After the initial jubilation, an agonizing wait for confirmation from the rescue workers. Many here have been waiting for

decades. Hope was something they didn't let themselves feel until now. Rescue workers with Syria's White Helmets break through the concrete

looking for a way in.

No one is certain where this red section is or if it even exists. Inside the prison, family members are searching too.

WARD: You can see people everywhere just combing through all the papers and records they can find, looking for names, seeing if maybe their loved ones

are there.

WARD (voice-over): Tens of thousands of Syrians were forcibly disappeared in Saydnaya, lost in the abyss of a prison that was known as a

slaughterhouse industrial scale arbitrary detention and torture all to keep one man in power.

WARD: They call this the white area of the prison because they say the conditions here are much better than in other areas, but you can see. It's

still miserable.

WARD (voice-over): In the center of the prison, another frantic rush. Someone thinks they have found a tunnel. They desperately try to get a look

inside. Others look on helpless, not knowing is agony. Assad may be gone, but the legacy of his cruelty remains.

WARD: After we return from our trip to Saydnaya, a group called the association of detainees and the missing in Saydnaya said that they do not

believe that the red section exists, that they are confident that all of those who were detained in said nah were released on December 8, before

11:00 a.m.

And the White Helmets, those rescue workers that you saw there have now confirmed that they have concluded their search. Clarissa Ward, CNN,

Damascus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Today's Israel's Prime Minister took the stand in Tel Aviv courtroom, testifying for hours.

Benjamin Netanyahu said he was astonished by the injustice of being put on trial and that he was being hounded because of his security policies.

The corruption trial is the culmination of three separate investigations, and if Mr. Netanyahu is convicted and it's upheld on appeal, he will have

to resign. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is at the courthouse for us. Jeremy, good to see you. We know that we're no cameras allowed in the courthouse. Give

us a sense of what you're hearing.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, no cameras allowed during the prime minister's testimony, but we did see images of him

entering that courtroom initially shaking hands with his supporters, including several ministers in his government who attended the hearing as a

show of support.

What followed was, first of all, a historic moment, the first time that a sitting Israeli Prime Minister has testified in his defense in a criminal

trial, and what also followed was a series of diatribes by the Israeli Prime Minister against the media, against Former President Obama, talking

about foreign policy, talking about a range of issues.

And ultimately, kind of circling around to the notion that he views the charges that are being leveled against him effectively as baseless

allegations. Now, what are those allegations? Because it is important to talk about that. There are three key charges that he is facing, bribery,

breach of trust and fraud.

The most serious of the cases is case 4000 which involves an accusation of bribery, alleging that he provided or that he offered regulatory benefits

to a wealthy media mogul in exchange for more favorable media coverage. Now the prime minister is also accused of receiving lavish gifts, hundreds of

thousands of dollars of cigars, champagne and jewelry, all of these allegations he denies, and he denied them in court today.

This is also an extraordinary moment, of course, also because this is happening during war time. The Israeli Prime Minister will be testifying

not just today, but over the course of the next several weeks, as much as three times a week, six hours per day, as he still goes on to carry the

duties of prime minister.

[09:15:00]

And this is a trial, we should note, that has hung over the prime minister and really hung over this country in many ways, for more than four years.

We don't expect a verdict to be reached any time, immediately, but once it is, if indeed he is convicted, he could face up to several years in prison,

and he would also have to resign as prime minister.

GIOKOS: Yeah, Jeremy. And of course, Benjamin Netanyahu has a lot of fronts that he needs to be dealing with as well. In the meantime, we're seeing

more evidence of many Israeli air strikes inside Syria. What more do we know? I mean, what we're hearing is military targets, chemical weapons

targets. We know that the IDF has moved within the buffer zone by the Golan Heights. Give us a sense of what's going on.

DIAMOND: Yeah, the Israeli military has been carrying out extensive strikes inside of Syria targeting specifically Syrian military capabilities, taking

advantage of the power vacuum effectively that has emerged in the downfall of the regime of Bashar Al Assad. We know that they have been going after

chemical weapons stockpiles.

They have been going after various types of missiles in the Syrian military's arsenal. There were reports today of a naval base being hit, as

well as images of helicopters that were destroyed, purportedly in an Israeli military strike. And there's the Israeli government is making clear

that they are taking these strikes at a moment of opportunity.

And what they are also doing is that they have sent Israeli troops into Syrian territory, into that buffer zone that has seen neither Israeli nor

Syrian troops occupy positions there for more than 50 years now, and they are actually going beyond that buffer zone as well.

The Israeli Defense Minister said that they had captured several strategic points outside of that buffer zone in Syrian territory. They say it's

designed to protect Israel at this moment of vulnerability from a security perspective of uncertainty in terms of who will actually emerge in

governance in Syria and what kind of neighbors they will be to Israel.

But there are reports of Israeli military personnel as close as 25 kilometers away from Damascus. The Israeli military has insisted that they

are not that close, that they are not marching on Damascus by any means, but merely trying to secure their border.

The Israeli Foreign Minister also said that these were temporary steps designed to shore up the security situation again at this moment of

instability, but certainly a lot of questions about how much longer Israel is going to be able to carry out these strikes before the kind of

international condemnation reaches a higher point.

And also, the extent to which the new rebels who have taken down Bashar Al Assad and who are preparing to govern Syria. How long will they tolerate

this? Obviously, they have their hands full with trying to assemble a government and shore up their position inside of Syria, but there is likely

to come a point where they will no longer tolerate these kinds of Israeli strikes on military capabilities that they are very much inheriting.

GIOKOS: All right. So, Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for breaking that down for us. Now, the Middle East remains very much on the mind of the

Biden Administration. We're hearing from sources that the Biden White House hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza before Donald Trump is inaugurated next

month.

And it's working with officials from the incoming Trump Administration to try and make that happen. In the wake of the recent ceasefire between

Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon talks towards a Gaza deal have quietly resumed. CNN's Alex Marquardt joins us now from Washington, reviving of

these talks vital right now.

It's a race to get those done before the Trump Administration comes in. But please tell us and give us an idea of how they actually Biden White House

is coordinating with the Trump team?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Eleni, there are, of course, a wide range of issues that President Biden and

President-elect Trump disagree on, but on this, they agree. They would both like to see the war in Gaza end with a ceasefire for those hostages to come

home for more aid to get into Gaza.

And they would both like to see this happen before Trump is inaugurated on January 20. And so, sources tell my colleagues and me that there is a

significant, notable degree of collaboration between the Biden and the Trump camps. This is still being led in a large way by the Biden team, the

White House official Brett McGurk, who is in charge of the Middle East, the CIA Director Bill Burns.

But on the opposite side, on the Trump side, his recently named Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has been coordinating with the Biden Administration,

and they have been talking a lot about how to get this deal across the line.

[09:20:00]

Now, after the ceasefire was struck between Hezbollah and Israel, and the war in Lebanon essentially ended, the Biden Administration felt that there

was an opening, an opportunity to refocus on Gaza, to get a ceasefire there, thinking perhaps that Hamas might be more flexible, feel

increasingly isolated.

Of course, the Biden Administration has felt for quite some time that Israel has accomplished all that. It could militarily inside Gaza. So, the

U.S. has resumed these efforts in Gaza, alongside allies, Qatar and Egypt to have been the principal mediators throughout these negotiations, these

failed negotiations for the past year.

Turkey is taking on a greater role, because Qatar had closed the Hamas office, and so several of the Hamas negotiating team have gone to Turkey.

Steve Witkoff, the future Middle East envoy for Trump, I'm told, has gone out to the Middle East on his own trip to both Israel and Qatar, where he

discussed the war in Gaza and the possibility of a hostage deal.

And again, he is speaking with the Biden Administration about their efforts. So, it remains to be seen whether they will be able to get this

deal done. All the sources who we speak with are remarkably sober about the chances it has been something that has failed time and time again since the

last hostage deal in December of last year.

I think, Eleni, there was some surprise that Trump might not want to wait until he is president to end this war and essentially get the credit for

ending the war and bringing those hostages' home. But someone who I spoke with who was close to Trump and familiar with his thinking says that even

if the ceasefire deal is struck before he takes office, that he would take credit for pushing it.

And of course, he will be responsible for maintaining the ceasefire. And if he's successful, he would take credit for that as well, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yeah. Alex Marquardt, great to have you on the story for us. Thank you so much. Well, after five days on the run, police capture the man

accused of gunning down a health care executive in Manhattan, how the arrest went down. That's coming up just ahead. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: The hunt for the killer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson is in New York City, last week led to Pennsylvania, where they arrested 26-

year-old Luigi Mangione after a McDonald's employee tipped off authorities. Is now being charged with murder. Police say Mangione was carrying a

backpack at the time of his arrest with a loaded gun.

They described the weapon as consistent with the murder weapon. Mangione's family responding to the news saying our family is shocked and devastated

by Luigi's arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson, and we ask people to pray for all involved.

[09:25:00]

CNN's Brynn Gingras has a closer look at the man accused of cold-blooded murder and how the arrest went down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC ADAMS, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: We have a strong person of interest in the shooting that shook our city last week.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After a five- day manhunt, the main suspect in the killing of United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson is in custody. Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Former

Valedictorian from Maryland, who police believe carried out the heinous act in Manhattan last Wednesday, was caught while eating in a western

Pennsylvania McDonald's.

JOSEPH KENNY, CHIEF OF DETECTIVES AT NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: We did not have his name prior to today.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Mangione not on police radar, as he had no arrests in New York City or elsewhere.

LUIGI MANGIONE, SUSPECT IN UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO KILLING: To the class of 2016, a kind of class that only comes around once every 50 years.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Mangione graduated from the prestigious Gilman school, a private all Boys High School in Baltimore, Maryland in 2016 where

he was top of his class.

MANGIONE: It's been an incredible journey, and I simply can't imagine the last few years with any other group of guys.

GINGRAS (voice-over): He went on to college at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with a bachelors and masters in

engineering. A former classmate called him, quote, a totally normal guy. Police now trying to figure out what changed. Authorities say he was

carrying a multi-page document pointing to a possible motive.

It railed against the healthcare industry and suggesting that violence is the answer. Quote, these parasites had it coming, end quote. I do apologize

for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done, it read.

KENNY: We don't think that there's any specific threats to other people mentioned in that document, but it does seem that he has some elf will

toward corporate America.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Mangione comes from a prominent Maryland family that owns Lorien Health Services, a nursing home chain in the state where Luigi

volunteered in 2014 according to his LinkedIn page, they also own country clubs in Maryland. A look into what is likely his good reads profile made

earlier this year shows he called the infamous Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, a political revolutionary.

Quote, it's simply impossible to ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out, it reads. Authorities sifting

through social media postings like this one to glean more clues.

KENNY: We're still working through his social media. We're going to do a complete scrub of that.

GINGRAS (voice-over): This well authorities work to connect Mangione to their crime scene through possible DNA, fingerprints and pieces of evidence

like this fake ID, which is also the same one the suspect used to check into a hostel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan before the murder.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Well as artificial intelligence takes the world by storm, one country is quickly positioning itself to be a leader in the growing field.

We'll take a closer look and talk to an executive. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi, and you are watching "Connect the World". Let's quickly take a look to see how markets are

faring right now. And in the U.S., have just about to open. Have they opened team? I don't know. We're exactly at 09:30.

Yes, they are open. So, these are opening levels, S&P, NASDAQ slightly to the positive, DOW Jones in the red. The U.S. government, in the meantime,

has approved the export of advanced artificial intelligence chips to Microsoft operated facility here in the United Arab Emirates.

And that's according to an AXIOS report citing two people familiar with the deal. This is the latest move by tech giant Microsoft in its $1.5 billion

investment in an Emirati AI firm G42. Now the license as AXIOS reports denies access to the advanced chips by anyone sanctioned by the United

States Treasury Department and by a certain category of countries that includes China.

Microsoft and the U.S. Commerce Department did not respond to arc sources request for comments. Well, speaking of artificial intelligence, there's no

doubt that it is rapidly changing the business world, and Abu Dhabi is positioning itself to be a leader in this growing field.

Take a look at the growth so far. Now, according to Hub71 the number of AI companies in Abu Dhabi between 2021 and 2023 increased at a compound annual

growth rate of 67 percent and studies show that one AI company was established every two days in Abu Dhabi during the first half of this year

alone.

Hub71 says it's prepared to support and advance this AI growth. And the CEO of the company, Ahmad Ali Alwan joins us now. Sir great to see you.

AHMAD ALI ALWAN, CEO FO HUB71: Thank you for having me.

GIOKOS: -- a bit of anxiety if, one, if a new AI company opens, what every two days? One, every two days.

ALWAN: You know, AI is so intertwined to modern ways of working that is no surprise.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

ALWAN: It's -- we're going to see, increasingly all traditional businesses incorporate AI into their solutions, especially with the rise of Gen AI, it

has an immediate impact to almost all every industry.

GIOKOS: So, I mean, from what we understand, everyone is experimenting with AI, but if you're not able to really integrate it fully in a business for

efficiency and productivity, those startups and the companies that you're coming across at Hub71.

ALWAN: Yeah.

GIOKOS: Are these models ready for use in various sectors?

ALWAN: Yeah, definitely. You know, since we started with Hub71, 2019 through different programs, initiatives that are meant to attract

companies, we've always seen AI. But AI historically has been more as an enabling solution so for businesses for startups to be able to develop

synergy, cost savings, et cetera.

In ways that larger corporates perhaps couldn't. Today, AI has becoming more as a service as a product. We see that with ChatGPT, we see with other

models. So, we have a number of our start-ups that are now focused on the AI side of selling AI as a service to different corporates, where they can

promise operational deficiencies to this corporate.

So, one of our companies, for example, is called example, is called base two. And what they do is they have AI based -- develop AI based,

recommendations for industries, for traditional industries, could be an oil and gas, could be any manufacturing facility. So, we're seeing that more

and more.

GIOKOS: So, these industrial legacy companies get to, you know, adopt AI, basically. But I'm curious, how many companies have you come across that

are capable of taking our jobs, your job and mine?

ALWAN: Well, definitely ChatGPT -- I say you know the creative economy is always important.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

ALWAN: So basically, like, there's a lot of back testing that had does with AI, whether it's kind of precision medicine, whether it's financial

advisor, et cetera. All of these models now exist, and can basically, let's say, develop an over way of working. Now, I don't -- I think we will at

some point develop a modern way of how we position ourselves and what work means for us with the rise of AI.

I think, you know, we're still relevant. We're still going to be very important, but we're going to interact with the AI.

GIOKOS: I'm curious at what phase, a lot of the companies are you coming across, and obviously they're coming to you at start-up phase. What phase

are there at? Are they scalable? And where have you seen incredible success stories that can export the work they're doing here in Abu Dhabi to the

rest of the world?

[09:35:00]

ALWAN: The unique thing about Abu Dhabi perhaps different than other jurisdiction is that tech and VCs tend to be a very local ecosystem. So

usually tech, if you look at Silicon Valley, if it's not within a 5- or 10- kilometer radius. Historically, they wouldn't look at it as like, you know, a prime tech.

Abu Dhabi is different in that regard, because any company that sets up an Abu Dhabi is looking to access the world. It's a great market here, but

it's really a springboard to access the world. Abu Dhabi has great economic relationships. The connectivity is phenomenal. So, it is a springboard for

any company to sell their business, especially in the software space.

GIOKOS: I mean, yes, software, but what about the hardware? And we just heard the story about the chips that potentially are being sold here in the

UAE. You need the hardware, you need the data centers, you need the electricity. I mean, you need a whole ecosystem around AI. How are you

supporting these businesses with a greater infrastructure?

ALWAN: Well, definitely a great thing about the capability, the infrastructure capability, capabilities that exist in the UAE, actually

support these businesses.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

ALWAN: So, you know, from the energy capacity that's needed to manufacturing different, you know, components that AI does require from the

data centers, et cetera, all does exist here. It all actually, perhaps, was developed for different reasons in the UAE, but it now is as a capacity

that can be leveraged to support these solutions.

GIOKOS: Yeah. I mean, AI space is truly fascinating. I think there's a global race, right? In as much as we've been seeing petitions being signed

that we're going too far ahead. Tell me about the regulatory environment, why it's actually I mean, it's fascinating. There's an incentive for

companies to come here and open up. So why is that?

ALWAN: Yeah, I think we're blessed also to have a number, one of the keys, I'd say, advantages that we have as Abu Dhabi Israel bilateral.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

ALWAN: Is kind of something that we don't talk about enough. Now, technology will always outpace regulation. So, it's important to have these

ears that listen to what the ecosystem would need to grow and thrive. And the best example I have is working being based in the Abu Dhabi Global

Market and the ADGM progressive regulators however compliant and firm about what it needs to scale. The business which is important in technology.

GIOKOS: Probably the most important question, how many times a day do you use ChatGPT?

ALWAN: Not enough.

GIOKOS: Not enough? You using it a lot of teams as well?

ALWAN: Obviously, there's all the different use cases that we have one. But obviously there is that part of what we supply to ChatGPT, that we're

careful of.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

ALWAN: But it is also a great tool that has all --

GIOKOS: Well, always fascinating to speak to you. Thank you so much for your time.

ALWAN: Pleasure.

GIOKOS: And all the best.

ALWAN: Thank you.

GIOKOS: All right, moving on now, let's get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now. It appears top Senate Republicans

are ready to back Donald Trump's pick, Kash Patel, to run the FBI, despite his long history of criticizing the agency. The FBI is currently gearing up

for detailed background checks on thousands of appointees for the incoming Trump Administration.

A fast-moving wildfire is forcing evacuation in Malibu in Southern California. Cal Fire says it took only about an hour for the newly formed

Franklin fire to triple in size, growing to around 350 hectares. The City of Malibu says it has activated its emergency operations centers.

Japan's Hiroshima bomb survivor group received its Nobel Peace Prize during the award ceremony in Oslo, Norway. The Grassroots organization was

bestowed the prestigious award for efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear power. And ahead on sports, Real Madrid facing Atlanta in the

coming hours.

Can they clinch the next round and the Champions League. Coy Wire will bring us the details. Stay with CNN.

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GIOKOS: Champions League action is back today, and Real Madrid are in need of some points. The reigning champions have had a tough time so far, and it

won't get any easier when they take on high flying at Atlanta side. Coy Wire joins me now. Real Madrid really needs the stars to show up tonight.

Coy, will the stars in line.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Eleni, we shall see. And they should hope that their stars, especially their biggest star, Mbappe a, can rise to this

occasion. You have at Atlanta, who are one of just three unbeaten teams. So, it's going to be a tough task for them. Real Madrid hoping that they'll

have Vinicius Jr., hoping that they'll have Rodrigo but Mbappe will he show up? That's the big question. The biggest stars need to step up on the

biggest stages.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

WIRE: We're going to break it all down with our Darren Lewis coming up in just a few moments with some other big sports headlines from around the

world.

GIOKOS: All right, looking forward to the update. Coy, we'll see you right after the short break, and I'll be back with more "Connect the World" at

the top of the hour. Stay with CNN.

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