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Trump Administration Deports Immigrants Despite Court Order; New Reports of Strikes on Yemen as U.S. Targets Houthis; Trump Officials Struggle to Explain Grounds for Detention; Oil Prices Rise as U.S. Vows Attacks on Houthis; Newcastle Beat Liverpool 2-1, Ending 70-Year Drought. Aired 9-9:45a ET
Aired March 17, 2025 - 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)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: This is the scene in Yemen amid protests in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and against U.S. air
strikes on Houthi rebels that have killed dozens. It's 04:00 p.m. in Yemen. It is 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson, this is "Connect
the World" from our Middle East Programming Headquarters.
Also coming up this hour, Donald Trump set to call Russia's Vladimir Putin tomorrow Tuesday, and says they are inching closer to a ceasefire for
Ukraine. And after Palestinian activists and Colombia graduates Mahmoud Khalil is arrested. A growing number of students are being targeted by U.S.
immigration.
Well, the stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now, a mixed look to the opening, as far as futures at least are concerned. Back there
at 09:30 a.m. New York time. We begin with rights groups demanding answers in the United States after hundreds of migrants were deported to a prison
in El Salvador.
The Trump Administration invoked wartime powers to speed up the deportations without due process through a statute called the Alien Enemies
Act. Well, it claims that the men are Venezuelan gang members, a federal judge has blocked the use of that act. He did that on Saturday, and appears
some deportations may have gone ahead after the ruling came down.
The attorneys who brought the case forward are asking the judge to make the administration provide answers immediately. The White House has denied that
it broke the order. CNN Senior Political Reporter Stephen Collinson just wrote a fascinating analysis about these deportations. He is joining us
from Washington.
Stephen, the president himself didn't deny that the order was broken on Air Force One on Sunday. Here was his response when asked whether they had
violated the order.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I don't know. You have to speak to the lawyers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you planning to do more deportation?
TRUMP: I can tell you this, these were bad people. That was a bad group of, as I say, hombres.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So, what do we know at this point? Where is this headed?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: I think it's headed to a showdown today or earlier this week in a district court in Washington, D.C.
But this Alien Enemies Act is dates from 1798, it's only been very rarely used. It allows the U.S. government to detain the nationals of a foreign
country with which the United States is at war.
It was used, notoriously during World War II, to in turn, Japanese Americans, which is now regarded by many people as a stain on American
history and jurisprudence. The issue here is that the United States is not at war with Venezuela. Although the president frequently says that the
country is subject to an invasion by undocumented migrants and gang members from central and southern America.
There is no state of war existing, and it's not up to the president to decide that the country is at war. That is a power reserved for Congress in
the constitution. So, the argument here is that the president is breaking the law by using this law in the first place. And then there are rising
questions about whether, after the judge gave an oral and written order that this should be halted, and said any flights in the air should be
turned back at the time, whether the administration ignored those judges' orders.
And if that's the case, we would have a scenario in which the executive, the presidency is defying the orders of the judiciary, which would itself
be a constitutional crisis.
ANDERSON: So, what's the administration's position on this? How is it justifying one the use? It denies that it hasn't complied at this point.
And when I say, where is this headed, and you say to a district court, does it go further than that at this point?
COLLINSON: Yeah, the administration has already appealed. The judge is ruling that these deportations should be halted.
[09:05:00]
This refers to the cases of initial five Venezuelan migrants who challenge their detention. The White House says these people haven't yet been
deported. It's likely to go up to appeals courts, and like almost every other contentious matter in the Trump Administration.
There are already scores of legal challenges to the expansive use of presidential power that the president has shown in his 50 odd days in
office. A lot of this stuff is going to end up before the conservative majority that Trump built on the U.S. Supreme Court.
These cases going to have very important implications, not just for the Trump presidency, in which we're seeing the most expansive and aggressive
use of executive power in the modern age. But they will tell us a lot about the powers of the presidency, going forward, when Donald Trump has left the
office.
We're seeing a real rebalancing, I think, constitutionally, between the various branches of the U.S. government. Just because the conservative --
the majority of the court is conservative and was built by Trump, that doesn't necessarily mean in all cases that the court is likely to side with
the president.
We've had several already in the administration where his powers have been constrained by the Supreme Court, but say that 30, 40 percent of cases that
the Trump Administration brings to the court get passed that really reshapes the powers of the presidency.
ANDERSON: So, it's good to have you, and you can read Stephen's analysis on CNN digital and on your, CNN app. Thank you, sir. Well, sealed with a phone
call. Well, the U.S. President says he thinks there is, in his words, a very good chance he can broker an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine
in a phone call with Vladimir Putin scheduled tomorrow.
The Kremlin conferring just hours ago that that call will happen in comments on Sunday, Donald Trump indicated the focus of the call will be
about land concessions, potentially the biggest obstacle to reaching a ceasefire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Speaking to President Putin on Tuesday, I think we'll be talking about land. It's a lot of land. It's a lot different than it was before the
wars. You know, we'll be talking about land. We'll be talking about power of lands. That's a big question, but I think we have a lot of it already
discussed very much by both sides.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Busy flight that. Well exactly how the Russian President will respond is anyone's guess. In a news conference last week, Putin laid out
tough conditions and demanded concessions from Kyiv before accepting the U.S. peace plan. Well, CNN's Clare Sebastian joining us now from London.
Alayna Treene is at the White House. And Clare, we've just in the last few hours, heard from the Kremlin that this call will happen. What are the
expectations on the part of Vladimir Putin in what he might get out of this?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Becky, I think this is potentially an unnerving, if not perilous moment for Ukraine, right? Because Ukraine
had a very positive week last week, after the talks in Saudi Arabia, U.S. military aid was restored. It seemed like their relationship with their
biggest backer was getting back on track.
I think for Putin this call this week represents an opportunity to reverse some of that progress, to try to drive a wedge again between the U.S. and
Ukraine. Don't forget, after the last time they spoke back on February 12. It was a few days later, and of course, we cannot prove causality here, but
it was a few days later that we started to hear rhetoric coming from President Trump, calling President Zelenskyy a dictator.
And then we had that cascade of events that led up to the Oval Office meeting. So that is one aspect for Ukraine to keep an eye on. And of
course, Ukraine's European allies, the foreign ministers, of which are meeting in Brussels today, and are clearly from the commentary that we
heard from them going into that meeting, trying to reiterate the point that, of course, it is Russia, not Ukraine, at this point, standing in the
way of peace.
But look, President Trump seems to be suggesting that a lot of work has been done ahead of this call, that there was work done over the weekend, he
may have something to announce, but hedging again, he said on whether they can end this war, maybe we can, maybe we can't. So, I think for now, Russia
is keeping, officially, its commentary very light, not commenting at all on what it expects from this meeting.
ANDERSON: Alayna, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, was Trump's Sherpa effectively. He said on CNN yesterday that he had a positive meeting with
Putin last week. What more do we understand to have come out of that meeting?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, there's a few things, Becky. One, I was told that, that meeting lasted several hours and actually went
into the early morning of Friday.
[09:10:00]
But then also that Witkoff left directly. And then over the weekend, well, he made a pit stop, I should say, in Azerbaijan. But then over the weekend,
came to Florida, where the president was at his Mar-a-Lago home and briefed him on everything that happened.
Now clearly, the president is very much impressed and confident in what Witkoff shared with him in order for him to so publicly go out there and
say that he believes that there's a good chance to ending the war. He believes that they've made progress through those discussions, and that he
wants to physically and directly speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin himself tomorrow.
Now, I think one of the most interesting things we've learned from what the president said himself directly to reporters on Air Force One is that
they're already starting to give us a little sense of what the conversation with Putin could look like, when the president said, and you played some of
this, that he thinks that they'll be talking about land, a lot of land is different than it was before the war.
That's really talking about some of the concessions and the physical geography of what these negotiations could include, we know, and this has
been said repeatedly by United States officials, people like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that they believe that both Ukraine and Russia are going
to have to make concessions moving forward.
We already know that Ukraine has kind of made those concessions when they met last week in Jeddah with the U.S. delegation, and that they agreed to
that temporary ceasefire. The White House and its officials and the president himself have said that now the ball is in Russia's core.
And so, I think what they're going to be looking for out of these continued talks is what concessions are Russia -- is Russia and Vladimir Putin
directly willing to make? And can they guarantee that? And that's really where a lot of this stems from. But it does seem like the White House is
very confident with how these discussions have been going.
I've been hearing that in my private conversations as well, and we'll just have to see how this goes tomorrow, between the president, the United
States President, President Trump, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow.
ANDERSON: Yeah, who's the better negotiator at the end of the day? And one can only assume that the Russian president has a long game at the back of
his mind, President Trump, it seems, perhaps looking at a sort of shorter time period here. It'll be interesting to see what comes out of this.
It's good to have you both. Thank you very much indeed. Well, the new Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, is using his first foreign trips
since taking office to strengthen ties with Europe, amidst growing tensions with the Trump Administration over their position, of course, on Ukraine.
And importantly, of course, on tariffs and Canada's sovereignty. First up was France to meet with President Emmanuel Macron, where Mr. Carney
stressed Canada's need to work with, quote, reliable allies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: With you, Mr. President, I want to ensure that France and the whole of Europe works enthusiastically with
Canada, the most European of non-European countries determined like you to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, there are no plans yet for Canada's leader to visit Washington. And one Canadian international relations expert tells CNN that
that may be for the best, because President Trump could use the encounter to belittle his guest. Well closer to home, Carney is used his first days
in charge to eliminate the country's unpopular carbon tax.
Escalating tensions in the Middle East and the U.S. bears down on Yemen's Houthis. The new threats coming from the rebel group, word of new air
strikes, that is up next.
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[09:15:00]
ANDERSON: Well, a major U.S. military operation in this region when we are and of course, we're coming to you from our Middle East programming
headquarters here in Abu Dhabi. Heating up Yemen's Houthi rebels say that the U.S. carried out more air strikes today, continuing a fierce wave of
attacks that have reportedly killed dozens since Saturday.
Well Houthi spokesperson said today that the group will respond to escalation with escalation. U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to use
lethal force until the Houthis hold their quote piracy and terrorism in the Red Sea. And he is also demanding that Iran immediately end its support for
the group.
National Security Correspondent Natasha Bertrand joining me now from Washington. Natasha, we know Donald Trump has been considering an operation
like this, for weeks. He has designated the group, of course, or re designated the group as a terrorist group. The strikes began over the
weekend. Why now? And what can we expect going forward?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we're told that President Trump signed off on these strikes late last week, and
it had been in the works for several weeks, if not months, because it's difficult to figure out where exactly the Houthis have been keeping their
underground weapons.
And you know, the stockpiles that they have been able to amass over several years with Iran's help. And so, the intelligence that it required to
collect information on these targets took quite some time to be able to develop a sufficient target list. And so, we are told that that
intelligence was finally collected and deemed necessary to act upon right now.
And that is why CENTCOM took the steps that it did over the weekend to launch this kind of massive salvo against the Houthis. Notably, what is
different here it appears from the Biden Administration strategy, is that these strikes also targeted Houthi leaders, something that the previous
administration had been reluctant to do.
But that the Trump Administration now says that they have gone ahead and killed some Houthi leaders. Now it is unclear at this point just who was
actually targeted in the strike, and whether they did manage to target any Houthi leader successfully. The Houthis, of course, are saying that dozens
of civilians were killed in these attacks.
We have not gotten a response to that from the Defense Department yet, including whether they are actually investigating the claims that there
were civilian casualties here. But this could be the start of a massive campaign, according to Trump Administration officials, to try to degrade
the Houthis in a way that makes it impossible for them to continue their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
They did pause that campaign in January, when there was a ceasefire declared between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but it does appear now that they
are ready to start those attacks up again, despite these attacks by the U.S. over the weekend. Again, the Houthis have a lot of weaponry stored, a
lot stockpiled.
And the U.S. actually has not had a good idea, even to this point, of how much they have in those weapons' storage depots. So, the Houthis did
respond to this attack with a drone attack on a U.S. ship in the Red Sea that was unsuccessful. The U.S. ship shot those drones down, but still does
not appear at this point like the Houthis are willing to relent.
The question is, will the U.S. campaign, which is expected to continue over the next several days and weeks, be enough to degrade their capabilities
under the entirety of the Biden Administration, when the Houthis were attacking ships in the Red Sea Biden officials were unable to stop them at
that point, Becky.
ANDERSON: Natasha Bertrand is at the Pentagon. Well Brown University advising its international students and faculty to avoid travel as the
Trump Administration makes life precarious for citizens of other countries. Rasha Alawieh, a Doctor and Assistant Professor at Brown University Medical
School, was deported to Lebanon over the weekend, despite a court ordering the government and not remove her from the United States.
[09:20:00]
The judge who issued that order has now instructed the Trump Administration to account for how that happened. A hearing will take place today in
Boston. Let's bring in CNN's Gloria Pazmino for more about what has been happening with these Trump deportations, these cases, it seems, growing by
the day.
This Brown Assistant Professor now, and it seems the Trump Administration really ramping up its targeting of students. What are you learning at this
point?
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Becky. And it does seem like at least for now, we're learning about a handful of students that
are facing some sort of immigration enforcement as a result of the Trump Administration's promise crackdown on international students.
First, we want to get to Dr. Rasha Alawieh, you were just speaking about her. She was deported back to Lebanon, according to a lawyer and her
family, which has filed court papers in the last few days. And a hearing on that case is expected in the next hour. Now she is a citizen of Lebanon,
but was here on a worker visa, working at Brown University as a medical specialist.
Now her family and her attorneys say that she had traveled to Lebanon, and when she came back through Boston Logan International Airport, she was
detained there. While she was detained, a judge ordered that she could not be deported until the federal agency, the federal immigration agency,
explained to the court why she was being deported.
And it appears that federal agents have defied that order, because we know that Dr. Alawieh was actually sent back to Lebanon. So, we are hoping to
learn more at this court hearing in the next hour. And then there's another student at Columbia University. Her name is Ranjani Srinivasan, and I
learned about her story over the weekend.
She traveled back to Canada after immigration officers visited her Columbia University apartment more than twice asking to speak with her. She did not
open the door for them, and she opted to go back to Canada because she was afraid that she would be taken into custody.
She was visited at the same time that agents were on campus taking Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist, and also another Columbia University
student into custody. So, this student tells us that she did participate in some protests, but never faced any sort of disciplinary action as a result,
Becky.
ANDERSON: Right. OK, stunning video of Mahmoud Khalil's arrest, meantime, was released over the weekend. It has been viewed millions of times on
social platforms. Walk us through what we saw in that video and where his case stands now?
PAZMINO: Yeah, Becky, the entire video is actually eight minutes long. I have watched it. The video that we see that was posted on social media is
just a snippet, and it begins with Mahmood Khalil being taken into custody. They put handcuffs on him, and we can hear his wife, who is recording the
video, plead for information. I want you just to take a listen first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to be under arrest. So, turn around. Turn around. Turn around. Turn around. Stop resisting.
NOOR ABDALLA, MAHMOUD KHALIL'S WIFE: Let's not -- OK he is not resisting. He's giving me his phone. OK? He's not -- I understand. He's not resisting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn around. Put your arms behind you.
MAHMOUD KHALIL, PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST: There's no need for this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have you. You're going to have to come with us.
KHALIL: Yeah, I'm going with you, don't worry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one's getting worked up.
ABDALLA: You guys really don't need to be doing all of that.
KHALIL: My love, it's fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAZMINO: Throughout that eight-minute video that, Becky, we hear the wife of Khalil ask the officers over and over for information. They barely
engage with her. At 1.1 becomes frustrated that she's on the street asking for information. She can't get them to tell her their names why they're
arresting him.
The Khalil case will have a court hearing soon. There is a deadline today for the parties to file motions regarding his lawyer's motion for his
release. So, we are expecting some developments there by the end of the day, Becky.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you. And as Mahmoud Khalil remains in I.C.E. custody in Louisiana, the administration has tried to paint him
as a Hamas supporter because of his role in the Columbia student protests last year. It is important to note. Officials are failing to explain
exactly what laws he has broken that would provide grounds for deportation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is protesting a deportable offense?
TROY EDGAR, DEPUTY SECRETARY OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Like I said, you're focused on protests. I'm focused on the visa process. He
went through a legal process --
[09:25:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you saying that he lied on his application? He's a lawful permanent resident, married to an American citizen.
EDGAR: Well, I think if he would have declared he's a terrorist, we would have never let him in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what did he engage in that constitutes terrorist activity?
EDGAR: I think, I mean, Michel, have you watched it on TV? It's pretty clear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it isn't. Well, explain it to those of us who have not, or perhaps others have not. What exactly do you do?
EDGAR: Well, I think it's clear or we wouldn't be talking about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that was the Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security. Here's the U.S. Secretary of State, again, unable to provide any concrete reasons
for revoking Khalil's residency visa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there any evidence of a link to terrorism.
MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Yeah sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Or is it just his point of view?
RUBIO: Yeah, they take over. I mean, do you not -- I mean, you should watch the news. These guys take over entire buildings.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We covered it --
RUBIO: They vandalize colleges. They shut down colleges.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm asking about -- justification for the revocation of his visa. Was there any evidential --
RUBIO: This specific individual was the spokesperson, was the negotiator -- negotiating on behalf of people that took over a campus, that vandalized
buildings, negotiating over what? That's a crime in and of itself, that they're involved in being a negotiator, the spokesperson this that the
other we don't want -- we don't need these people in our country that we never should have allowed them in in the first place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Khalil has been in custody for nine days now, he has not officially been charged with any crimes at this point. Well, still to come,
Wall Street set to open in just a few minutes. U.S. stocks, of course, coming off their worst week in two years how investors are feeling amid?
What is, of course, an escalating trade war? That is just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Right, just a couple of seconds before it rings, and when it does, it will be -- the beginning of a new week for these U.S. markets.
[09:30:00]
Coming off what has been a distinctly difficult time for investors, if you are betting, of course, or hoping that these markets will go higher. There
are many investors who've been shorting these markets, of course, hoping that they will go lower, and picking up stocks at a lower price.
So don't always expect that these weaker markets are bad news for investors, but let's be quite frank. I mean, for the U.S. market, coming
off a volatile week with President Trump's trade war sending jitters through investors. What happens today will be closely watched, and frankly,
the live markets now, as they settle down, showing a weaker start.
Once again, new estimates out today from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the OECD, pointing to economic growth slowing.
It's lowered its GDP projections for both the U.S. and the global economy and sites these trade wars and Donald Trump's tariffs as a reason for those
lower forecasts.
But while all the uncertainty clearly has some in the markets concerned, of course, U.S. Treasury Secretary says he's not worried.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I've been in the investment business for 35 years, and I can tell you that corrections are healthy.
They're normal. What's not healthy is straight up that you get these euphoric markets. That's how you get a financial crisis.
It would have been much healthier if someone had put the brakes on in '06- '07 we wouldn't have had the problems in '08. So, I'm not worried about the markets over the long term, if we put good tax policy in place,
deregulation and energy security, the markets will do great.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Energy Security highlighted there, lots to digest. I want to bring in the head of Middle East energy and OPEC + research. Kpler, Amena
Bakr, it's good to have you. What do you make of why prices are where they are at hovering on WTI, at least below 70 Brent, just at 70 at present.
What's driving these markets at this point, Amena?
AMENA BAKR, HEAD OF MIDDLE EAST ENERGY & OPEC + INSIGHTS AT KPLER: Thanks for having me. Becky, as you pointed out, there's a lot of volatility in
the market here, and I feel that traders out there are really being pulled in two different directions. On one side, you have the extreme fear that
these tariffs are going to be slowing down economic growth, therefore very bearish.
But on the other side, I mean, you have quite bullish factors, like the possible imposition of more sanctions on Iranian barrels. So, this is
creating a little bit of confusion in the market. Add to that that OPEC recently announced that they're going to be unwinding the cuts, and that
had a little bit of, again, bearish impact on prices, and that's why we're seeing Brent, kind of in the 70, 71 zone.
ANDERSON: Yeah, the OECD forecast today, a forecast of slower growth going forward, doesn't seem to have particularly knocked these markets. It might
have done it didn't. Donald Trump has been emphatic about wanting to see the price of oil lower. And that won't suit the region where you and I are,
but being pragmatists, as many are in this region. How are they responding?
BAKR: I don't think there's going to be a response at all, Becky. And there was a lot of speculation that the recent move by OPEC Plus was kind of
nudged by Trump to start the unwinding process. First of all, this plan by OPEC was set last year, so it was before Trump came into office.
Second, I think we're at a stage right now where I think many of these golf producers OPEC Plus in general, they're looking after their own interests
here. And you no longer have this direct relationship between an exchange of security for a certain oil price. So, we've moved past that.
So, I don't think there's going to be any kind of response to Trump's pleas, and I find them quite contradictory, because he needs oil to be at a
certain price range if he wants his industry to boom. And for owners of fields and so on, to drill, baby, drill. He needs these prices to be in the
range of a minimum of 65 to 70 Brent.
ANDERSON: You've been posting comments about what the markets may be somewhat ignoring.
[09:35:00]
And it's -- the reason that I wanted you on today because you have a really good sense of what is going on behind the scenes. You say geopolitical risk
isn't going away anytime soon, and you've alluded to some of what you think perhaps the market might be ignoring somewhat. Can you just expand a
little?
BAKR: Yeah, sure. Yeah, I think the market in general has been dismissing a lot of the geopolitical risk that we're seeing. I mean, the fact that we
might see maximum pressure on Iran that's still an option on the table, Becky, and that would take a lot of barrels off the market.
By Kpler's estimates, if maximum pressure does take effect, we expect Iranian exports to go down by around 500,000 barrels. So that's something I
don't think, though the market is factoring in, in addition to, I mean, all of these attacks that are happening previously, last year, I mean, we had a
lot of oil red divert and go around the Cape and that I mean, about 47 percent of that in fact.
And whenever you have a longer route taken, that means higher prices for oil to reach certain markets. So, all of that is just being dismissed. And
in fact, I saw a lot of you know response out there on Twitter to some of my comments saying, oh, this is going to be a nothing -- But nobody knows.
But this is the attitude, or the sentiment out there is overwhelmingly bearish, I would say.
ANDERSON: When Mohammed bin Salman launched his economic vision back in 2016, oil prices were significantly lower than where they are now. And at
the time, I remember asking him, how high do you need oil prices to be in order to be able to complete on this very ambitious program?
He said it didn't depend on oil prices, which, fair enough, that was the answer he gave me. The Saudis, of course, would love for oil prices to be
higher than they are now. I think they balance their budgets at around 90 bucks on the barrel. How difficult are things or would things be for
example, the kingdom. Should oil prices stay where they are now, or go significantly lower?
BAKR: Just to make one thing clear, Becky, Saudi Arabia does not target oil prices. It does not set policy and say we want $90 or $100 it just doesn't
work like that. And in fact, that policy is like a failed policy. So, they don't go down that route. When it comes to their budget, I mean, they are
working with several ranges.
It's not a range of 80 to 90 only or 70 to 80. They have various ranges, and we continue, I mean, to see that some projects are prioritized and
others are not. So maybe we're going to see a slowdown in certain projects while others speed up. So, there's this constant reshuffling and adapting,
which is normal.
ANDERSON: Amena, it's always good to have you on and we'll keep an eye on these markets. We'll have you back as we continue to watch these. And as
you rightly point out, we know there'll be some unwinding of these on the supply side, and we will begin to see more on to the market.
And well, I'll be interested to see how the markets respond to that. Good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. Still to come, a generational
moment for one English Football Club after clinching a major win and ending a seven-decade dry spell. That is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:40:00]
ANDERSON: Well, a long-awaited U.S. victory on the streets of L.A. on Sunday. Matt Richtman becoming the first American man to win the Los
Angeles marathon in 31 years. He finished almost three minutes ahead of his nearest rival, with a personal best time of 2 hours, 7 minutes and 56
seconds.
It was only the second time competing in a marathon. Tulu of Ethiopia took the gold in the women's race. Well, Newcastle beat Liverpool, ending a 70-
year domestic trophy drought at the weekend, going all the way back that drought going all the way back to 1955. The club dominated for a 2-1
victory in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday at Wembley over Liverpool.
They are celebrating their win with an outpouring of joy and some liquid spirits. Amanda Davies joining me now, Amanda.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Becky, you know full well, I am not a Newcastle supporter. It is not my team, but it was very, very difficult not
to get swept up in the emotion surrounding this victory from Newcastle and their fans at Wembley yesterday. There were men, grown men, families in
floods of tears around me watching.
There was one man who appeared to be praying for basically the entirety of the second half after Newcastle went into that second period what offer
against Liverpool. It is a very long wait for a team, a club and a city who love their football like a religion. And of course, it's not only a first
trophy for a domestic trophy for 70 years.
It's the first trophy since the Saudi Arabian investment into Newcastle in 2021. So, a major milestone, lots of questions about what it means for this
team in terms of their place in the club's history and how they bounce on from here, and that's what we're looking at in just a couple of minutes in
"World Sport".
ANDERSON: Football isn't life. It's bigger than that, certainly, for these fans. It's good to have you. "World Sport" up after this short break. I'm
back in 15 minutes time.
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[09:45:00]
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