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Connect the World
London Airport Closure Affecting Hundreds of Flights; Israeli Government Votes to Dismiss Head of Internal Security Service; Moscow, Kyiv Trade Blame Over Russian Gas Station Attack; Heathrow Airport Shutdown Triggers Global Travel Chaos; UFC Announces Fight Night in Abu Dhabi This Summer. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired March 21, 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: Well, this is the scene in London, a power outage completely shutting down Heathrow, one of the
world's busiest airports. It is 01:00 p.m. in London, it is 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. You're watching "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson
live from our Middle East Programming Headquarters.
Also coming up, a political and legal crisis for the Israeli Prime Minister, as the Supreme Court freezes the firing of the Shin Bet Chief.
And Ukraine says Russia targeted the port city of Odesa overnight, also accusing Moscow of shelling its own gas pipelines in Kursk to try to
undermine upcoming ceasefire talks.
Well, the stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now, and futures indicating a lower open for the key averages. Companies still
digesting how Trump's tariffs are likely to affect their business. Nike shares off in premarket trading after the company said its sales this
quarter would miss analysts' expectations, citing tariffs and falling consumer confidence.
The next wave of tariffs, of course, go into effect on April the second. And do watch those U.S. airline stocks today, European carriers dropping in
early trade. And that after a shutdown at one of the world's busiest airports is causing a global traffic jam. We start in London this hour.
Planes at Heathrow Airport are at a standstill. The airport itself not functional, with no clear indication of when it will reopen. Britain's
energy utility has been working to restore power since a fire at a West London substation caused a massive outage affecting Heathrow and thousands
of homes.
Well, the fire is now under control, but it's not completely out, and officials are saying the impact on air travel will last a number of days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN SMITH, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF LONDON FIRE BRIGADE: There remained no power at Heathrow Airport, terminal two or terminal four. The incident
caused London Heathrow to close the airport and planes to be rerouted. We continue to work very closely with our partners to minimize disruption.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: -- still being diverted. The airport is closed, at least for the rest of Friday, with some experts saying up to 150,000 travelers will be
affected. Let's get you the very latest on the situation there now at Heathrow. Our Anna Stewart is standing by. And Anna, what can you tell us
at this point.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been a very long night here at Heathrow Airport for many and of course, for the surrounding areas affected
by the fire. The fire brigade really fighting for that power station. You can hear a lot of cars behind me buzzing with journalist, Becky.
But behind me, Heathrow airport, eerily quiet, completely closed down. And for a look at how all of this unfolded, here's a story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEWART (voice-over): Flames leaping into the air over this West London electrical substation overnight. The fire taking out all the power for the
local area and for the UK's busiest airport. By mid-morning, the blaze was under control, but London Heathrow announced a complete shutdown.
Airplanes grounded on the tarmac, and many passengers in the U.K. and around the world left stranded waiting for answers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just kind of unbelievable, just kind of like, what the hell? Because this whole trip has been a little bit of a -- let's just say,
bad luck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've called delta, and all the lines are busy so they're not answering. I just called American Express travel to see if they can
help. I'm waiting.
STEWART (voice-over): Heathrow announced the airport would remain closed until at least midnight, local time on Friday, as the fire had also
impacted its backup power supply, with an average of 1300 flights a day and serving as a major hub for transatlantic travel, there has already been
global disruption.
Many flights which were already enroute to Heathrow were turned around mid- air. Others kept waiting for hours only to be told they couldn't fly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple hours ago, right as we were about to leave Newfoundland, we were rerouted back to Minneapolis.
STEWART (voice-over): As the U.K. national grid works to re-establish power to Heathrow so flights can resume. Counter terrorism police have been
called in to lead the investigation into the fire.
[09:05:00]
ED MILIBAND, BRITISH ENERGY SECRETARY: There's no suggestion that there is foul play --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a catastrophic accident is what we're looking at.
MILIBAND: That is the -- I mean, the conversation I've had is with the national grid, the chief executive of the national grid, and certainly
that's what he said to me.
STEWART (voice-over): The knock-on effects of this incident could take days to resolve.
IAN PETCHENIK, FIGHTRADAR24 DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS: Airlines like BA are going to take probably a few days, maybe even a week, to recover,
depending on how long the problems at Heathrow last, and how quickly they can get aircraft and crews and passengers back into position.
STEWART (voice-over): Meaning thousands more passengers are headed for delays.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEWART (on camera): Terminals two and four, we're told by the London fire brigade are still without power. At this stage, they're working with
national grid to try and re-establish power, of course, so that the Heathrow Airport can actually reopen, as it's hoping, at midnight tonight,
but that really remains to be seen at this stage.
It is interesting that London's counter terrorism police are now leading the investigation into what caused the fire. At this stage, we're told
there is no reason to believe there was any foul play. But of course, Becky, we're looking at critical infrastructure here.
A fire at a power substation could cause such a huge outage impact, not just Heathrow here, but of course, many airlines, many airports around the
world who are having to accept diverted flights, aircraft and air crew all in the wrong places, and hundreds of thousands of passengers impacted.
ANDERSON: Yeah, passengers understandably hugely frustrated, as you rightly point out all over the world. The authorities, as you are reporting,
suggesting that Heathrow will be closed until at least midnight. Any further indication on when things might be back to normal?
STEWART: I think a lot depends on when they can actually re-establish power to all of the terminals. If terminal two and four still don't have power,
that really remains in jeopardy, doesn't it when they are able to reopen this airport? But I think it's important to know that even if Heathrow is
able to reopen at midnight tonight, i.e. flights leave tomorrow, the knock- on effect, the disruption will last for many, many days.
ANDERSON: Anna Stewart is at Heathrow. My colleague, Richard Quest is one of the thousands of airline passengers around the world who have been
grounded. He captured some of the travel chaos from his location in Sao Paulo in Brazil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR OF QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: OK, this is the reality. We've all got our bags, but now we have to wait for the voucher to get the
taxi to get to the hotel, which they say they've organized. But so far, it's just a long, long, long line where I'm at the back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: He eventually did make his way to a hotel in Sao Paulo, where he is currently stranded, and he filed this report.
QUEST: Yeah, I was on my way from Santiago in Chile to London via Sao Paulo. We got to Sao Paulo. I boarded the plane. We were on there for about
four hours. It was the BA flight from Sao Paulo to London. The crew were great, but there's nothing you can do about it. We're all on our phones.
We're looking we can see what's happening in Hayes in West London. And I think there's a sort of a quantum leap in one's mind that a fire, thousands
of miles away at an airport or near an airport has this tentacles and ripples effect around the world. And after four hours of sitting on the
plane, drinking coffee, gossiping and chatting, they canceled the flight.
And the basic rule when things go wrong -- is when things go wrong, look after yourself. So, I grabbed a cab and found a hotel where I'm going to
hopefully stay. Interestingly, thankfully, my plane is here, so when Heathrow opens up in a few hours' time, I think I'm going to be OK to get
to London.
The problem is for those people whose planes never even left Heathrow, because now they are in a rolling series of delays as the planes arrive and
other passengers take priority.
ANDERSON: Well, we are now joined by Siya Shah. She was set to fly from London to New Delhi, her flight among those canceled due to the outage at
Heathrow Airport. And she joins us now. And as I understand it, you were headed from London to New Delhi for your cousin's wedding. Just sort of
walk me through what happened. When did you realize that you weren't going to get off the ground?
SIYA SHAH, DELAYED AIRLINE PASSENGER: Well, we never even got told by anyone. So, we were already at Heathrow Airport.
[09:10:00]
All the roads were blocked. And no one ever told us anything, and they're like, oh, there's a fire. You can't get in. You got to turn around. Mind
you on our app, the flight was still showing, oh, you're going to New Delhi. Like, nothing's wrong. The core customer service, no one's picking
up.
No one's picking up. And, yeah, my cousin's wedding is tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. But you know, it takes, like, a good couple hour to get to
India. So, we're still trying to, like, figure everything out.
ANDERSON: I mean, when you say you're trying to figure everything out, I mean, you tweeted that it was bloody chaos by the airport, and that even
trying to leave everything is jammed. So how you sort of, you know, trying to work things out. What are your plans at this point?
SHAH: So, I mean, we have no plans. All we've got told, literally, all we've got told in an email by Air India is, oh, your flight's been
canceled. There's been no news about, oh, we're scheduling or anything else. You know, I've got a tight deadline to meet, so we're having to go to
Manchester tonight to try and go from there to via Munich to New Delhi, hopefully by Sunday morning so I can make the wedding.
But, you know, it's probably going to set me back another like 300 just in travel, and I haven't got marry.
ANDERSON: Yeah. So, talk to me about what the airline has been doing. I mean, obviously, you know, you've got very little from them. Have they
offered any explanation as to sort of refunds or anything at this point? I mean, how are they setting themselves up at this point?
SHAH: We've literally got nothing. We I got a text about 1.5 hour before our flight was supposed to be boarding. Oh, your flights been canceled. By
then, we'd all figured it out, but since then, we haven't gotten anything. Every time you try and get through a customer service, someone says
something different about refunds.
Someone said, oh, you still have to pay. Someone said, oh, we can't do compensation because it's like a special circumstance not up to the flight.
So, yeah, we've had literally no news, no news that a refund is even on the way. And, you know, some of us have got places to be, and you know, we're
just that out even more money and time trying to get to places. Yeah.
ANDERSON: Yeah. I mean, you're saying that you think you'll make the wedding on time. So, remind me, what's the routing at this stage you're in
London. Well, how are you going to get Manchester.
SHAH: I'm in London. Had to -- train to Manchester tonight, so I'll be leaving in about like five hours to get a train to Manchester. From
Manchester, I'm going to Munich, and from Munich, I'm hopefully going to be in New Delhi by Sunday morning, if everything goes right. You know, all the
other flights that are telling me -- are telling me --
ANDERSON: If everything goes right, we wish you the best.
SHAH: Thank you.
ANDERSON: All right, we'll leave it there. We wish you the best. I'm sure you got, you know, many things to do in organizing to get yourself to that
wedding. All the best to your family. Thank you. You're watching "Connect the World". Still ahead the new warning from Israel's Defense Minister to
Hamas and to Gaza's residents, if the hostages held in Gaza aren't released.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:15:00]
ANDERSON: Well, a live look at Heathrow Airport in London, where no flights are coming in or going out for at least the next 11 hours. It is causing a
major disruption in the world air traffic, and it is unclear when the airport will open, reopen. Authorities still working to restore electricity
to parts of Heathrow as well as many nearby homes as a fire continues to smolder at a West London power station.
A lot more on this story throughout this show. Well, Israel's ground operation in Gaza will expand, along with intensified air strikes until
Hamas releases all remaining hostages. That warning today coming from Israel's Defense Minister, who also says Israel plans to evacuate Gaza's
population to the south and to implement U.S. President Donald Trump's voluntary transfer plan for Gaza residents.
Well, this coming after Israel's government voted to dismiss the head of Shin Bet the country's internal security service. Israel Supreme Court has
suspended the dismissal pending a hearing. Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv, and I want to talk about that and start with the Supreme Court's decision
to freeze this dismissal voted on by Netanyahu's cabinet.
Just explain why it is that the prime minister wants the firing of the head of the intelligence service. What the significance of this is, if you will?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, the reasons for the firing of the Shin Bet Director depend on who you ask. The Israeli Prime
Minister and his allies have insisted that it is because the Shin Bet Director lost the confidence of the Prime Minister, that the prime minister
no longer trusts him.
And but Shin Bet Head Ronen Bar and critics of the Israeli Prime Minister have offered an entirely different narrative, which is that the Israeli
Prime Minister has sought to dismiss him in particular because the Shin Bet is now investigating Netanyahu's closest aides over alleged ties to Qatar.
Accusations that they -- that some of those aides inappropriately lobbied on behalf of Qatar, including receiving payments from the Qatari
government. Netanyahu has insisted that that investigation was only opened after Netanyahu began to lose confidence in Bar and effectively suggesting
that this is a form of blackmail by the Head of the Shin Bet.
But it is important to note how incredibly unprecedented this current crisis is in the Israeli government. Shin Bet has never been dismissed
before, and the Attorney General of Israel has said that the way in which he was dismissed was simply not legal, and now we have this injunction by
the Supreme Court until at least the hearing can be held.
Certainly, something to watch as this develops, as it is, causing enormous tensions within Israeli society.
ANDERSON: Yeah. Meantime, Jeremy, Defense Minister Israel Katz issuing blunt warnings for the past two days, not just to Hamas, but to Gaza's 2
million residents, nearly all of whom, or many of whom will have no part in this war. Just explain what those threats are and their consequences.
Well, many of these threats feed directly into the accusations that Israel has been engaged in forms -- in various forms of collective punishment in
Gaza, that it is not distinguishing between Hamas and between civilians, and these comments by Israel Katz, both yesterday and today, only serve to
further those accusations.
He has said yesterday that threatening, effectively Gaza's total destruction, its obliteration, if Gaza civilians did not rise up against
Hamas and force the release of hostages, as if those civilians had power over a well-armed militant group inside the Gaza Strip. And today, he is
now threatening that the Israeli military will seize additional territories inside of Gaza, and suggesting even that that might be long term.
Saying the more Hamas continues in its refusal, the more territory it will lose to Israel, suggesting that Israel will permanently take control of
strips of land inside of Gaza, expanding Israel's territory and diminishing the territory for Palestinians in Gaza.
[09:20:00]
He also said that Israel will continue to engage, not only in military means, but also, quote, civilian means of pressure, talking about the
forcible displacement of Palestinians living in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, forcing them to move south, in a way that Israel has previously
done as well.
ANDERSON: Jeremy, I want our viewers to hear something -- about something from the Israeli President Isaac Herzog. He shared this earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISAAC HERZOG, ISRAELI PRESIDENT: It is impossible not to be deeply troubled by the harsh reality unfolding before our eyes, as is well known, thousands
of appointment orders have been issued recently. It is inconceivable to send our sons to the front, while at the same time initiating controversial
actions that provoke deep division among the people.
It is inconceivable to resume the fighting in order to fulfill the sacred command to bring back the hostages, while at the same time not listening to
and supporting their anxious families who are enduring hell on earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That is the Israeli President. He didn't call out the prime minister directly. But Jeremy, what's the message here?
DIAMOND: Well, I think the message is more than about the prime minister, specifically. It is about these divisions that we are seeing tearing apart
Israeli society. Many would argue that those divisions are due to the prime minister's actions, but it's important to note that Isaac Herzog, as the
President of Israel, it is a very nonpartisan role.
He has been extremely cautious during his tenure to not criticize the Israeli Prime Minister or the Israeli government's decision making
directly, Despite the fact that he previously ran against Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel's elections, legislative elections several years
before.
But what Isaac Herzog is talking about here is the fact that Israel we are seeing these divisions play out, as the Israeli government has now
announced this return to war, the strain on the thousands and thousands of reservists who are being called up on their families as well, some of whom
have lost jobs as a result of having to serve reserve duty.
Some of their wives have lost jobs or had to take on additional responsibilities at home, and the fact that there is also this issue of
ultra-orthodox conscription, where many of the country's ultra-orthodox members do not serve in the military, do not answer calls to serve.
And all of this is kind of coming to a head at the same time as you see the Israeli Prime Minister engaging in this dismissal of the Shin Bet Chief. It
really all is part of the same story of these fissures in Israeli society, and this sense by at least half of Israel's population right now that the
government is acting out of political interests rather than out of the overall best national security interests of the country.
And so, this is a very trying time for Israeli society, and we have heard many warnings from members of the opposition and also former Supreme Court
justices, former political leaders in the country, warning that if things continue this way. Israeli society is really at risk of heading for, if not
a civil war, then something very close to it, one in which at a time when Israel really needs unity in the face of the various threats that it faces,
Becky.
ANDERSON: Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv. It is 23 minutes past 3 there. 23 minutes past 5 here in Abu Dhabi. Thank you, Jeremy. Russia's Defense
Ministries accusing Ukraine of blowing up a major Russian energy facility. Ukraine's military says Moscow's forces shelled their own gas station in a
false flag operation.
And on the other side of the border, Ukraine's third largest city was on fire late Thursday, according to an official. Salma Abdelaziz has been
monitoring developments, and she joins us now. Can we expect from these talks experts from Ukraine will also attend, though President Zelenskyy
says they will not be in the same room as Russia, given what we are seeing on the ground, this next stage of talks, should be very interesting.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, in just hours after President Trump had expressed optimism about those talks next week, Becky. We saw
this exchange, this aerial assault exchange between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine accusing Russia of firing dozens of drones, including in central
Ukraine, where President Zelenskyy says some 200 drones were fired, wounding children, damaging churches and homes and critical infrastructure.
[09:25:00]
President Zelenskyy accuses President Putin of already violating the agreement that was reached earlier this week, a promise to pause for 30
days any attacks on energy infrastructure, he is yet again seeking a backstop, some sort of guarantee. So, you're heading into these negotiating
rooms in Saudi Arabia on Monday with hope in this process fading by the hour.
And for President Zelenskyy, the fear is, is that President Putin is using this moment to push some of the concessions that he wants to see that would
weaken Ukraine. Key among them, something mentioned in the call with President Trump is that Ukraine would receive no longer any foreign aid or
support that is something that would absolutely make it vulnerable and open to any Russian attacks.
So, it is difficult to imagine how these diplomats are going to bridge these differences. President Trump is absolutely in a hurry. He wants this
war over yesterday, but what you're seeing from both sides is that there's still clearly a motivation to fight, and that timeline you're seeing from
President Trump is simply not shared in Kyiv or Moscow.
ANDERSON: Salma Abdelaziz is in London for us monitoring development. Salma, appreciate it. Thank you. A short break before getting back to our
top story this hour. These are live pictures from Heathrow Airport in London, normally one of the world's busiest airports, currently at a
standstill all day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Right. Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You're watching "Connect the World". Our top story this hour, watching severe
disruptions to global travel after a huge fire near London, Heathrow knocked out power, causing the airport to completely shut down.
Experts estimate that upwards of 145,000 airline passengers could be impacted. And as we wait for the opening bell on Wall Street, we are
expecting markets to open lower. That's certainly what the futures were indicating. And do keep an eye on those airline stocks today.
[09:30:00]
European carriers at least lower in early European Trade responding to that outage at Heathrow Airport. Passengers there at Heathrow, of course, not
able to get onto flights, and this having a ripple effect right across the travel market around the world. That was the opening bell, and the U.S.,
markets are open, and as we let them settle just a little bit, as we suggested, markets are lower.
Look, companies are still digesting how Trump's tariffs are likely to affect their businesses. We saw Nike's premarket stock off after the
company said its sales this quarter with miss analyst expectations, they cited tariffs and a fall in consumer confidence. The next wave of those
tariffs is due to go into effect, of course, on April the second.
But as I say, watch those European watch those U.S. airline stocks today. They will certainly be in focus, Delta and United, as I'm being told, are
both lower in early trade. No real surprise there. Well, I'll get that stock price for you. Meantime, let's get you on to where we are at those
losses on Wall Street.
Then let's turn to the airline industry. Heathrow Airport, being at a commission for just one day could meet hundreds of millions of pounds in
losses. According to one analyst, Heathrow was the fourth busiest airport in the world in 2024 with upwards of 80 million passengers passing through.
It was forced to close due to a fire at the electrical substation that provides the airport's power that was in West London. Tomasz Pawliszyn is
the CEO of AirHelp, an online service that allows airline passengers to seek compensation for flight cancelations and delays. And he is joining us
now live from Barcelona, good to have you.
We've been speaking to stranded passengers all day on CNN, clearly extremely frustrated, many of them not able to get anything from the
airline, apart from an email or a text suggesting that their flights are canceled. One guest -- one passenger we've just spoken to several I already
knew that.
I already knew that the flight was canceled. When I got the text from Air India, she said, look, how long will things take, do you believe, to get
back on track, and how wide ranging do you expect the impact on travel and passengers to be?
TOMASZ PAWLISZYN, CEO OF AIRHELP: First of all, thank you for having me. Well, it's not an easy day for airline industry, and especially not for all
the travelers, right? As you mentioned, is one of the busiest airports. And in Europe, it is the busiest airport. So, it's a very difficult situation.
It will take, for sure, few days to recover and get all the passengers into their destinations, but the effect of this will carry for the next
potentially weeks, right? It's not only passengers who are in affected, but also entire industry, also rail operators.
ANDERSON: Right.
PAWLISZYN: All the contractors and subcontractors working for the Heathrow Airport.
ANDERSON: So --
PAWLISZYN: So, it takes few days for -- lots of money.
ANDERSON: So, let's talk up -- let's talk news our viewers can use here. AirHelp has a checklist of things that passengers should do to support
their claim of reimbursement. Just walk us through what affected people need to be doing today.
PAWLISZYN: The most important thing today is to once they come. I know it's very difficult, but as much as possible, stay calm and collect all the
documents, all the receipts, all the proofs of delays, all the proofs of you trying to reach an airline, and all the replies.
And it will be extremely handy once you reach out later on for potential refunds of tickets or refunds of meals and beverage that you had to take
during the day, while waiting for your next flight and maybe even potentially staying overnight somewhere. The European and U.K. law is very
clear, the airline has to take care of you.
There is no compensation this case, because this is clearly outside of airline control, but the refund policy, rebooking policy and right to care
still holds, so airlines should and must take care of you while being stranded at Heathrow and also around the world. So, and if this is not
provided, then please collect all the receipts. It will be very handy later on.
[09:35:00]
ANDERSON: This is really good advice. The potential impact can't be overstated when you look at Heathrow by the numbers, 89 million passengers
last year.
PAWLISZYN: Right.
ANDERSON: 200 plus destinations, 90 airlines. That's what sets this Heathrow situation apart from similar incidents at other airports. Is this
affecting all parts of the traveling world today?
PAWLISZYN: Well, so many destinations, right? So, we are monitoring situation since the night I was actually at Heathrow last night. I was
flying from Heathrow at 07:00 p.m. to Barcelona. Everything was functioning very well, and you can see those millions of thousands of people traveling
and going through the terminals to all of these hundreds of destinations.
So today they are stranded around the world. They cannot come back, or they cannot fly via Heathrow. And Heathrow is also a very, very big connecting
cup, and the biggest connecting cup in Europe, where people travel between North America, Middle East, Asia, Africa.
So, people are today, all around the world, looking into what's happening and when they can fly, or when they can come back to work, or when they can
go for the holidays or simply for work. So, it's very, very difficult situation. We have a lot of clients reaching out to us what to do.
It's, as I say, it's the masses of people impacted is a lot and you know, and we are talking only about travelers. We don't talk about the families
waiting for the travelers. So, the impact is massive. Is much bigger than what we've seen with the outage of Lufthansa two years ago when the
internet cable was cut off. And it's similar in scale to crowd strike last year, in July across the world, basically.
ANDERSON: Pawliszyn, it's good to have you. Your advice and your insight are really important, and there is, as we understand it, an investigation
opened at this point, including counter terror operation, which one assumes, and I think it's clear that when you've got an investigation of
this sort of scale, all agencies would be involved.
But the Ministry of Energy has said there is no suggestion that there is foul play in this case. But I mean whether or not you know, the airport
should have a better contingency plan in the -- situation like this and how things went so horribly wrong, all part, one assumes of that investigation.
Pawliszyn, it's good to have you. Thank you. I just want to bring up the airline stocks. We were suggesting that you should keep an eye on those
airline stocks in the U.S. The markets been open for 7 minutes. It is 09:37 in New York, and this is Delta and American Delta off what two- and three-
quarter percent.
American Airlines of 2.35 percent echoing the early drops, at least for European carriers in the European trading day. No real surprise there. All
right. We're going to take a very short break back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:40:00]
ANDERSON: Well, it's been a big week of boosting ties with the Trump Administration for the UAE National Security Adviser, Sheikh Tahnoon bin
Zayed, who was welcomed to the White House to sit down with the U.S. President. The agenda heavily focused on artificial intelligence.
He was accompanied by high-ranking Emirati officials for meetings with America's national security brass and business leaders. Well, Sheikh
Tahnoon also met virtually with Elon Musk. He says they discuss the importance of AI in developing more agile and responsive government
systems. Here's the U.S. Vice President reflecting on the visit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: We're thrilled to have our friends from the United Arab Emirates, a number of the business leaders and government
leaders in town this week for meetings with our government. And one of the things they consistently hammer upon is something that, unfortunately, too
few of our European allies tend to get.
Is that if you want to lead an artificial intelligence, you have got to be leading an energy production.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well also this week, Crown Prince Abu Dhabi -- Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan met with Dana White the
Chair of the UFC. After the meeting, the UFC announced Fight Night is coming back to the emirate this summer.
Well, for the first time, one of the top jobs in "World Sport" has gone to a woman. A priceless moment, Thursday for Kirsty Coventry, hearing she'd
been elected President of the International Olympic Committee, the two-time Olympic gold medalist from Zimbabwe won in a landslide just after one round
of voting.
She described the moment as extraordinary. Amanda Davies has much more on that in "World Sport". I'm back with more "Connect the World" in 15
minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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