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Dozens Killed in Third Deadly Incident near Gaza Aid Site; Ukraine Hits Crimea Bridge as Russia Gains Ground in Sumy; Nearly 100 Wildfires Burning out of Control across Canada; $9.4 Billion Spending Cut Package Headed to U.S. Congress; Iranian Official Says New Proposal Is "Incoherent and Disjointed"; Dutch Government Collapses after Wilders' Party Leaves Coalition; AI Looms Large at U.K.'s First South by Southwest in London. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired June 03, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

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ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to our second hour of the CONNECT THE WORLD from our Middle East programming

headquarters. I'm Eleni Giokos, in for Becky Anderson, where the time is just after 6:00.

Now for the third day in a row, getting aid in Gaza turned deadly. Israeli forces fired on Palestinians near an aid distribution site, killing at

least 27 people and wounding dozens.

Ukraine says it hit the bridge to Crimea in a new, unique special operation on the heels of its massive drone attack across Russia.

And even though Elon Musk has left his U.S. government role, Donald Trump is looking to Congress to formalize his spending cuts into law.

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GIOKOS: The United Nations is condemning a third day of deadly gunfire near a food and aid center in southern Gaza, calling it unconscionable. A

warning that the video that you're about to see is disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS (voice-over): The Palestinian health ministry says at least 27 people have been killed and dozens wounded in today's shooting incident.

It's the third in a row. The Israeli military says it opened fire after people were, quote, "moving toward them." CNN's Jeremy Diamond spoke to me

a short time ago from Jerusalem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Today proved to be an especially deadly day, with at least 27 Palestinians who were killed and

dozens more injured, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. That is a similar death toll to what we saw on Sunday.

Today, the Israeli military indeed acknowledging that they did open fire on what they describe as, quote, "several suspects" who were "moving toward

them." We know that on Sunday, the Israeli military issued this denial, claiming they didn't fire near an aid site.

But at the same time, an Israeli military official did acknowledge to us that they did fire on people about one kilometer away from that aid site,

which is where Sunday's shooting did in fact take place.

And so what we are seeing are very similar scenes today to what we saw on Sunday, where a number of Palestinians were mourning their family members

who were simply trying to get aid to survive. Here is the brother of one man who is doing just that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI WAFI, HUSSAM WAFI'S BROTHER (through translator): The U.S. and Israel, what do they tell us?

Go and get your food and water and the aid. When the aid arrives, they hit us.

Is this fair?

Is this fair?

Death. Those who go to get food from there die. Yesterday, 35 martyrs were brought to the hospital.

From where?

From where they went to get food. They were not going for fun. They were going to get food and drinks. This is the injustice that we are in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And today, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, indeed acknowledging that there is this shooting incident that took place outside of its area,

they say that this is an area, quote, "well beyond our secure distribution site and control."

And they noted that the Israeli military is looking into it. But we should be very clear that these thousands of people, whether they are a half a

kilometer or a kilometer away from this aid distribution site, the only reason that they are on that route is in order to reach that distribution

site.

And that is obviously exactly what humanitarian aid officials have been warning about and why they've refused to participate in this mechanism.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Thanks to Jeremy Diamond there for us.

And UNICEF, writing in "The New York Times" op-ed, and I quote, "Israel has defended the new distribution effort as a way to prevent Hamas from

stealing supplies.

"But the United Nations and its partners already know how to get humanitarian aid inspected, cleared or offloaded and delivered without

diversion, without delay and with dignity."

And UNICEF Gaza communications specialist Rosalia Bollen joins us now live. And Rosalia is currently in the Netherlands, waiting entry into Gaza in the

coming days or weeks.

Rosalia, great to have you with us. I mean, we're seeing these horrific images and the deaths over the last three days. Other aid groups have

warned about their chaotic mechanism that currently is in place.

I want you to explain to our viewers why we're seeing these daily horrible scenes of mass shootings, as people that are starving are trying to get

access to some kind of supplies.

ROSALIA BOLLEN, GAZA COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST, UNICEF: I mean, the images really speak for themselves. What we're seeing is a population that has

lived through nearly 20 months of incessant bombardments and utter deprivation, with the exception of the six-week ceasefire earlier this

year.

[10:05:03]

But people are hungry. They're thirsty, they're exhausted, they're traumatized and they are, above all, absolutely desperate.

Our teams just came across a single mom, Hanadi, who lives next to a cemetery garden. She's displaced. She doesn't have any support, any income.

And that day, when we met her, all she could find was molded bread to give to her children.

So what we're talking about is a population that is just desperate to get their hands on anything, really. But the modalities of distributions of

supplies that we see happening is very dangerous and ineffective. People are getting injured, people are getting killed, even and that is just

appalling.

You know, families shouldn't have to risk their lives to get some food. And also families are typically going to send the strongest family member. And,

of course, if you're a single mom like Hanadi, you, you stand no chance.

What are you supposed to do?

Abandon your children in a tent next to the cemetery garden?

Walk 10 kilometers to the distribution site in the hope that you're able to get something?

What are the elderly, the sick, the ill, the disabled, how are they supposed to reach those sites and be able to obtain a little bit of

support?

It just doesn't work.

GIOKOS: Yes.

And then -- and then the risk is that, you know, you could be gunned down as well. I mean, we've heard from the IDF, saying, you know, their response

-- but it's three days in a row now.

What is your understanding about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and the way that it's handling aid distribution?

UNICEF, in its op-ed, had said that the U.N. agencies know how to do this effectively.

How much responsibility do you believe that Israel bears with the GHF and the systemic failures that we're clearly seeing?

BOLLEN: Yes, I mean, the United Nations, including UNICEF, has made it very clear that we're unable to join in this particular distribution in the

first place, because it puts the lives of people at risk. People are being shot.

There's a UNICEF guest house in the al-Mawasi Rafah area for international staff. And my colleagues there have been reporting the past three days that

every morning around 4:30 am, they can hear the noise, the chaos, they can hear people screaming.

They can hear the sound of small arms fire. So it is, in the first place, it is just absolutely unethical. It's unsafe. It is increasing inequalities

because only those who are the strongest can come.

There's a very limited number of distribution points that this foundation has set up throughout Gaza. Compared to UNICEF, for instance, we have

hundreds of sites where were operational. We have sites where we administer vaccines, routine immunization. We have health clinics where children are

screened for malnutrition.

We have temporary learning sites. We have lots of different points where we typically distribute aid supplies that we use for aid distribution. And so

it means that people don't have to move. We actually come to them. We're very much embedded with the communities. So this current setup is not

something we can participate in.

GIOKOS: You're trying to get into Gaza; you're waiting to get into Gaza. We know that UNICEF is still distributing some kind of aid.

Could you tell me what you're able to do?

You're saying you've got multiple points and your ability to work with Palestinians on the ground.

I mean, are you able to get your hands on aid that is coming through into Gaza?

BOLLEN: Yes. So over the past couple of months, in spite of the aid blockade, we have continued essential service provision, such as routine

immunization, such as water trucking. So we support the production of safe water and the distribution of safe water.

The infrastructure is largely destroyed. And we have this trucking system, whereby trucks go throughout Gaza to distribution points, where people can

come to fetch water. We have sessions for mental health and psychosocial support that continue.

We have puppet shows that children attend where they can learn about the risks of unexploded ordnance, unexploded bombs, which is a great danger to

children in Gaza. So we have a large range of services that actually have continued to be provided, despite the insecurity, despite the displacement

orders, despite the lack of supplies.

And since May 19th, UNICEF has been authorized to bring in limited quantities of supplies, therapeutic food for malnourished children,

vaccines and supplies to disinfect water.

[10:10:03]

So those distributions of therapeutic food to families also continue.

GIOKOS: So, Rosalia, the U.S. and Israel are backing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. In fact, the U.S. ambassador to Israel saying it's resulted in

over 5 million meals to civilians, quote, saying "without incident."

How do you respond to that?

Where do you believe things will go from here?

Because the U.N. has said aid is being drip fed into Gaza.

French president Emmanuel Macron also criticized the mechanism that is in place right now.

How do you see this evolving?

BOLLEN: You know, it doesn't have to be this way. There is no need for people to be killed while they wait to get their hand on a little bit of

aid because, as a matter of fact, the United Nations and NGOs not only have they large quantities of supplies ready to be moved into Gaza.

UNICEF alone has the equivalent of 1,000 trucks worth of lifesaving supplies. But we also, we remain presence. We know the community. We've

been there throughout the war. We have these hundreds of points where we where we operate.

And so it really doesn't have to be this way, where people risk losing their lives to get a little bit of aid, to feed their families.

GIOKOS: All right. Rosalie, thank you so much for joining us today. Good to speak to you.

All right. We're following fast-moving developments in Ukraine, where the Ukrainian security services say it has carried out an extensive attack on

the Crimea Bridge with over 1000 kilograms of underwater explosives.

The bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia is both strategically important and highly symbolic. And it comes just one day after Ukraine's

Spiderweb operation, which had 41 aircrafts in military bases across Russia. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has more on how the operation unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A bird's-eye view of humiliation, Ukrainian drones halfway across Russian Siberia, seconds from hitting the Kremlin's most prized bombers.

But the data was bad for Moscow; 117 drones hitting 41 long-range bombers across Russia, a Ukrainian security source said. A torn-up skyline here in

Belaya, exactly what Moscow dreaded. And Ukraine needed a boost to its flagging morale, damaging Russia's war machine for sure. But maybe also its

calculus in peace talks.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Our Operation Spiderweb yesterday proved that Russia must feel what its losses mean. That is what

will push it toward diplomacy.

WALSH (voice-over): Ukraine hit Irkutsk 4,500 kilometers away from Ukraine, where Google Earth still shows similar propeller driven aircraft

in the open.

But they also struck Olenya right on the Arctic Circle. Similar planes also on Google. Another example of something that just was not meant to happen

in Russia's brutal war of choice.

For how was as extraordinary. Ukraine's security service head, Vasyl Malyuk, commenting here.

VASYL MALYUK, HEAD OF UKRAINE'S SECURITY SERVICE (from captions): How beautiful it looks, this airbase Belaya.

WALSH (voice-over): And releasing these images of the wooden mobile homes they used the roof cavities of to hide the drones. Before their release,

once Ukraine said, all their operatives were out of Russia.

The planes hit mainly the Tupolev 95 and Tupolev 22, the Ukrainian source said. Aging, easy to damage, hard to replace. They were partly behind the

nightly terrors that beset Ukrainian civilians.

Whether these strikes make a dent in this daily toll will take weeks to learn. But it may also damage the Kremlin quicker away from the front

lines, its pride hit hard, although state TV put on a fierce display of why Russia has been pummeling Ukraine so relentlessly.

It may also too change its thinking, perhaps toward peace talks that continued Monday in Istanbul and of how long Russia can sustain this war if

Ukraine keeps throwing painful surprises its way -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: As Nick reported, these are substantial blows against Russian assets. But they come as Ukraine is losing ground on the front lines.

Russian forces are advancing in the northern region, bringing the city of Sumy in range of drone and artillery attacks. Local officials report

constant shelling and more civilian evacuations.

Last hour I spoke to CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton about the significance of Ukraine's attacks inside Russia and the Crimea Bridge,

given their losses in the north.

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: This is basically, in addition to being a military war, a military campaign, it is also a PR

campaign. And it's very essential for the Ukrainians to basically bring their allies back, you know, convince people in the United States that

Ukraine is worth fighting for.

Same in Western Europe, making sure that each of these allies of Ukraine, as Zelenskyy has called them, that they truly stand with Ukraine.

And it is these kinds of attacks, these basically sensational attacks that really show that the Ukrainians have capabilities that, in essence, belie

what is happening on the front lines.

The front lines, they're not collapsing. But there are definitely pressures on the front lines.

And it's very difficult for the Ukrainians, just by sheer numbers of personnel, the difference between the Russian forces and the Ukrainian

forces in terms of numbers and in terms of equipment and just in terms of volume, what the Ukrainians are doing is they're relying on precision as

Zelenskyy mentioned.

And that precision does several things. First of all, it shows that the Ukrainians are using intelligence very precisely. They are not using the

old Russian or Soviet method of going after a target with masks, with lots of military forces, with lots of weapons, with lots of artillery.

They're basically modernizing what the approach is on the Ukrainian side. And that means less indiscriminate killing when it comes to civilian

targets. Basically, the Ukrainians try very hard not to hit civilian targets.

The Russians don't care. And that's a big difference between them. And that helps the Ukrainians from a PR standpoint, especially in the West.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: And still to come, more than $9 billion in spending cuts implemented by DOGE will soon be in the hands of the U.S. Congress.

Lawmakers give a green light to some of the most controversial parts of the package.

And a one-two punch of dust and smoke. What Canada's wildfires mean for conditions across the eastern U.S. That's all coming up just ahead on CNN.

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GIOKOS: Nearly 100 wildfires continue to burn out of control across Canada today. In the hard-hit provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, thousands of

people have been forced out of their homes. Heavy smoke from those fires has quickly spread into the central and northeastern U.S. as it continues

drifting south.

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GIOKOS: Well, uncertainty over Donald Trump's trade war drags on. The number of available jobs in the U.S. increased unexpectedly in April,

signaling a strong labor market.

But despite the broader economic instability, a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics just out, showing the job openings totaled around 7.4

million at the end of April. That's up from 7.2 million in March.

Also happening today, a major test for U.S. president Donald Trump's agenda. The White House is sending part of its long-awaited package of DOGE

cuts to Congress, kickstarting a process to formalize the cuts made by Elon Musk's team targeting federal spending.

And it comes just days after Musk formally exited his special government role. CNN's Alayna Treene has the latest from the White House for us.

Alayna, good to have you with us.

What do we know about the bill and whether Congress would be passing this, whether it has a big probability of being passed into law?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, I mean, this package, the rescissions package, as they're calling it, comes after a long internal

battle at the White House over how to try and formalize these cuts that have been identified and laid out by Elon Musk and DOGE.

Now this package represents $9.4 billion in cuts. That's, of course, less than the waste and fraud and areas that Elon Musk and DOGE have so far

already outlined but also falls way short of the trillion-dollar aspirations that Musk had initially said he wanted to come in and slash

from the federal government as it relates to waste, fraud and abuse.

Now part of this $9.4 billion package that they are sending to the Hill, part of it is related to NPR and PBS, two areas where they are looking at

really cutting a ton of funding from the federal government. We've reported on it but that's going to be something they try to officially codify and

formalize through Congress.

[10:25:00]

Also included in that is the foreign aid agencies that have already been cut by president Donald Trump. That includes agencies like USAID, things

that were very controversial at the time. Now the White House is really trying to get Congress to approve it, to make these cuts more permanent.

Now to your question, of course, of will this actually pass, well, with you -- when you have Republicans controlling both the House and the Senate and

many Republicans being very loyal to president Donald Trump and not wanting to really upset him on a lot of these different issues, there's a good

chance they do pass.

Now, of course, there may be some wrangling that is happening over this. But this is really a goal to try and make these cuts more permanent. And,

of course, all of this comes as we know that the president and his team here at the White House are really pushing very hard to try and muscle

through their broader budget bill.

The one big, beautiful bill as the president likes to refer to it, through or, excuse me, through the Senate, not just Congress. We know that they

passed in the House recently with House Republicans getting on board behind it.

But Senate Republicans have many more issues that they still need to work through. And they have a date of trying to settle that by July 4th. So

that's really been a huge focus right now here at the White House in addition to wanting to get some of those DOGE cuts more formalized and

codified through Congress as well.

GIOKOS: Alayna Treene, thank you so much for that update.

All right. I want to get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now.

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GIOKOS (voice-over): Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is projected to win South Korea's presidential election, according to a joint exit poll

published by Korean broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS.

Official results have yet to be announced. The country is hoping to move on from months of political turmoil and division after the brief martial law

declaration by former president Yoon Suk-yeol in December.

Mexico's president is hailing the country's first-ever judicial elections as a complete success. Despite a low turnout, about 13 percent of Mexican

voters turned out Sunday to elect more than 2,500 judges and magistrates, including the entire supreme court.

A U.S. Defense Department official described cutting a Harvard research grant as a grave and immediate threat to national security. Court documents

show the Trump administration still went ahead and terminated the $12 million research grant for biological threats.

The government documents have emerged as part of Harvard's legal fight to unfreeze $2.5 billion in federal funding.

All right. We're seeing signs of serious frustration as the U.S. and Iran work toward a new deal on Tehran's nuclear program. We'll break down the

confusion and the contradictions with an Iran expert right after this short break.

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GIOKOS (voice-over): I'm Eleni Giokos in Dubai and this is CNN. Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD. Here are your headlines.

Palestinians on their way to receive aid in southern Gaza have come under fire for a third straight day. The Palestinian health ministry says at

least 27 people have been killed.

The Israeli military says it opened fire on people who, quote, "advanced" on the troops. The U.N. says it wants an investigation of all three

shooting incidents near aid centers in Gaza.

Ukraine says it has struck the Crimea Bridge in an attack using more than over 1,000 kilograms of underwater explosives. Ukraine's intelligence

services posted this video on Telegram showing the moment the bombs detonated. The agency says the bridge's supporting pillars have been

severely damaged.

Investigators say the man suspected of throwing a Molotov cocktail at a Jewish gathering in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday has been planning the

attack for a year. Twelve people were injured in the incident. Authorities have charged the Egyptian national, who was in the U.S. illegally, with a

hate crime and attempted murder charges.

GIOKOS: Now there are signs of frustration from Iran over efforts to strike a new deal on its nuclear program with the U.S. One senior official

calls the American proposals "incoherent and disjointed."

And the latest demands from president Trump appear to contradict earlier suggestions from his negotiators. Our Fred Pleitgen has the latest from

Berlin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, as far as this first proposal that was put forward by the United States and

handed over to the Iranians by the Omanis this week, it certainly doesn't seem as though there's much in the way of optimism.

And it was that senior Iranian official who told me that the proposal that is on the table right now was put forward by the Americans seems pretty

unacceptable for the Iranians at this point in time. He did use those words "incoherent and disjointed."

And there's essentially two things that this official says that the Iranians have issues with. The one thing is the mixed messages that they're

feeling that they've been getting from the Trump administration, that one thing they believe is being said at these meetings that, of course, are led

by the president's negotiator, by Steve Witkoff.

And then there's things that they hear in the public where Steve Witkoff himself in the past has gone forward and said that the Iranians are not

allowed to have any enrichment, that even 1 percent enrichment would be too much.

Other administration officials saying similar things. And then yesterday, of course, on Truth Social, president Trump himself coming out and saying

that there would be no enrichment. And that is the other big thing for the Iranians.

They say that enrichment for them is an absolute red line. They have no issues, they say, with one of the proposals that appears to be on the

table.

This is something that CNN has learned, that apparently the Trump administration is thinking of possibly investing in Iran's civilian nuclear

program and creating some consortium that would have the U.S. in it, some Middle Eastern countries but also the International Atomic Energy Agency to

oversee nuclear enrichment.

That could happen on Iranian soil. However, the Iranians have said that their own domestic enrichment, the enrichment that they're capable of

doing, the progress that they've made on this enrichment, that is something that they feel that they have a right to and that is something that they

definitely want to keep.

And so therefore, as far as any negotiations are concerned, the Iranians are saying enrichment is something that to them would be a red line. And

now both sides appear to be trying to find a way out of that impasse.

Last week, I was able to speak to the spokesman of Iran's foreign ministry and he said, "Where there is a will, there is a way."

However, the Iranians are saying that the enrichment is something that they will demand that stays within their country, that they want to keep that

capability and certainly something that they're not willing to compromise on to the extent where they would say that they would give up enrichment

completely.

The Iranians are saying that they would, of course, allow inspections, that they wouldn't allow very intrusive inspections and that they would be

willing to prove that their nuclear program, as they have said all along, is for civilian purposes only.

But as far as enrichment is concerned, it's something that they say that Iran has sacrificed for and technology that they themselves have developed

and certainly not something that the Iranians are willing to give up. Eleni.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right, my next guest captured the sense of the confusion around Iran talks this way, saying, "The U.S. and Iran are close or

possibly very far apart on the terms of a nuclear deal that may allow some but also no uranium enrichment, leading to a regional consortium, where

enrichment is conducted inside Iran in the sense of outsiders."

Ali Vaez directs the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group. He joins me now live from Washington.

Good to see you. I mean, there's so much confusion. I mean, you've got the notion of a potential consortium.

[10:35:00]

Iran is saying, you know what?

I'm going to welcome the IAEA to do inspections. There's worry about uranium being enriched at 60 percent, which is very close to weapons grade.

I mean, there's so much confusion.

What is the red line for the United States?

What are you reading into what's on the table?

ALI VAEZ, IRAN PROJECT, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Thank you for having me. It's good to be with you.

Look, there is confusion because I think there are different voices in the Trump administration seeking different outcomes.

I think the president; his envoy, Steve Witkoff; the vice president, they understand the alternative to a negotiated agreement with Iran, is the

United States being sucked into a --

(AUDIO GAP)

VAEZ: -- to a much more pragmatic solution in which.

(CROSSTALK)

VAEZ: -- limited enrichment for a period of time.

Can you hear me?

GIOKOS: Yes, I can. You froze for a second. But please continue.

VAEZ: Sure. So. And then there is another wing in this administration which believes that Iran is in a position of weakness. And the U.S. does

not need to make any significant concessions to Iran.

This is the time to basically get what was previously impossible, which is zero enrichment in Iran. And that results in this conflicting position that

the U.S. is adopting all the time, which is only undermining its own credibility at the negotiating table.

I think as soon as we get over maximalist positions, there are all sorts of technical solutions available that could result in a good deal from a

nonproliferation perspective.

GIOKOS: Look, president Trump threatened military action if there's no deal. Clearly, it suits both parties to engage in negotiations.

Are you concerned?

And let's explore all possibilities here, where the potential of talks completely falling apart would be one of those scenarios.

VAEZ: Well, look, if there is no deal in the next, I would say, two months, the European members of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran have

threatened that they would reconstitute the U.N. sanctions on Iran.

Iran has threatened that, if that happens, it will withdraw from the nonproliferation treaty, which is what North Korea did in 2003 before it

developed a nuclear weapon.

And Israel has threatened, in turn, that if the Iranians withdraw from the NPT and kick out the U.N. inspectors, it would strike Iran's nuclear

facilities; which could, again, drag the United States into this conflict as well.

So there's a preordained timeline for an escalation. If there is no deal, that would at least chart the pathway to an agreement to a more

comprehensive agreement down the road in the next few weeks.

GIOKOS: I want to talk about Iran's foreign minister being in Lebanon today to meet up with top officials as the government seeks to disarm

Hezbollah. Break down, break down what we can expect from this visit and how consequential it is.

VAEZ: Look, the Iranians are trying to demonstrate that not only they're not isolated internationally but, even at the regional level, the setbacks

that their allies -- like Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas, in Palestine -- have suffered has not really put Iran in a weakened -- in a weakened

position.

And Iran is not going to concede on some of its red lines, like zero enrichment, based on this belief in Washington and in Jerusalem, that Iran

has never been weaker or more vulnerable.

So this diplomatic effort is partly aimed at demonstrating to the United States that that perception of Iranian weakness is incorrect. Iran might

have been weakened but it is not weak. Those two things are not the same.

GIOKOS: Yes.

All right. Ali Vaez, great to have you with us. Thanks so much.

And still to come on CNN, the contentious political issue that's led to the collapse of the Dutch government. Details on that story just ahead in a

live report. Stay with us.

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GIOKOS: The leader of the Dutch far right Freedom Party says the lack of support from other government members for strict asylum reform is why his

party is leaving the governing coalition.

That decision by Geert Wilders has caused a collapse of the Dutch government and led to the resignation of the country's prime minister.

Joining me now, we have Sarah de Lange. She is a professor of political pluralism at the University of Amsterdam.

Sarah, great to have you with us.

Could you break down for us how this happened, why it happened?

PROF. SARAH DE LANGE, UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM: So the Dutch government that came to power 11 months ago was already unstable from the start

because many of the coalition partners were hesitant to work with Geert Wilders' far right party.

And the coalition has experienced a number of crises in the past months. But in the past weeks, Geert Wilders' party has been declining in the polls

and, as a result, he has withdrawn his support from the government.

GIOKOS: So what happens next?

I mean, you've got this dissolution that has occurred. Geert Wilders clearly stepping away.

What does this ultimately mean?

DE LANGE: So because the party, the coalition doesn't have a majority in parliament anymore, the prime minister has resigned as well. And new

elections will be called now. New elections in the Netherlands take approximately three months to organize, so we can expect them after the

summer break.

GIOKOS: So the argument here is that one of the mandates were to instill stricter immigration laws and asylum laws. That is now unraveling.

And I guess the question is whether this is -- does this fit into the rising wave of right wing populism across Europe?

How are you reading into it?

DE LANGE: Well, immigration has been an important theme in Dutch politics for a long time, especially because Geert Wilders has always put it front

and center.

And it's therefore also no surprise that he has chosen this particular issue to break up with the government coalition about, because he would

very much like the coming election campaign to also be about immigration and more specifically about the influx of asylum seekers.

GIOKOS: Yes and, I mean, the truth is that you've got the electorate wanting a lot more control on migration.

Is there an argument to be made that more moderate and more mainstream parties are just not listening enough to that demand?

DE LANGE: No, I don't think that is a fair assessment. The other coalition partners in the Netherlands had already agreed with Geert Wilders on

extensive measures to curb immigration.

However, his own minister of immigration turned out to be unable to propose effective legislation to parliament. And it's therefore that he engineered

this cabinet crisis to more or less cover up for her performance and to put blame on the mainstream parties, even though they were willing to go along

with quite far-reaching measures.

[10:45:00]

GIOKOS: All right, Sarah, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for breaking that story down.

Well, we have new details in the so-called mushroom murder trial that is underway in Australia. Erin Patterson, who is accused of killing three of

her in-laws by serving them poisonous mushrooms, was on the stand for a second day in a row today. CNN affiliate Seven Network's Estelle Griepink

has more from outside the courthouse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ESTELLE GRIEPINK, SEVEN NETWORK CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been a big day of evidence here in the Morwell Courts in Victoria, where Erin Patterson

has been giving evidence in the witness stand for her own triple murder trial.

She has just told the jury that she accepts there must have been death cap mushrooms in the lunch she served to four family members back in 2023.

She has also told the jury that she picked up the habit of foraging wild mushrooms back during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns and that she had taken to

drying mushrooms in a dehydrator and then adding those mushrooms to a container that sometimes already contained other dried mushrooms.

Now Erin Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one of attempted murder relating to this lunch. Her defense team have long

maintained that this was a tragic accident.

Now other evidence that we have heard today in court includes that Erin Patterson now admits that she did not have ovarian cancer. That's after the

jury was told that she invited those for lunch guests over to her home to share a health diagnosis. But today, she said she has never had ovarian

cancer.

Other things we heard from the accused triple murderer include an explanation of why she has a mistrust of the health system. She also spoke

about her relationship with her in-laws, who she is accused of murdering.

She said that they treated her like a daughter-in-law and still loved her, even after her marriage with their son, Simon Patterson, broke down. So

Erin Patterson is expected back in the witness stand tomorrow for another day of evidence.

It's been a highly anticipated murder trial here in Australia and certainly one that a lot of international media have also been paying attention to.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right. Still to come, a warning from DeepMind's CEO about the need to develop artificial intelligence responsibly. He spoke to CNN's Anna

Stewart about his concerns. We'll bring you that story right after this. Stick with CNN.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

GIOKOS: London's first South by Southwest festival kicked off Monday. CNN's Anna Stewart interviewed one of the leaders of artificial

intelligence at the event, DeepMind's CEO, Demis Hassabis.

And the interview comes at a time where AI Is raising some major ethical questions, from the spread of misinformation to the potential of major job

losses or even fears that government regulations won't be able to keep this evolving technology under control.

Anna Stewart joins us now from London. I think she's got a list of jobs that are at risk.

(CROSSTALK)

GIOKOS: -- my job at risk?

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Probably, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes? Probably.

Have you got like an Excel spreadsheet?

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: No. But isn't it interesting because we talk about innovation around AI so much but we also talk about the risks. And there's this really

difficult balance going on. Just last week, the Anthropic CEO warned that half of entry level white collar jobs could be wiped out in the next five

years. It felt like a jobpocalypse kind of warning.

And so one of the first questions I asked the CEO of Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis, was, does he agree with that?

[10:50:03]

Does he see a huge wipeout of jobs in such a short timeframe?

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEMIS HASSABIS, CEO, DEEPMIND: No, I don't. I don't know. I think my view is that what we know for sure is there's going to be huge change. And in

the past, when this has happened -- Industrial Revolution, internet era -- it's going to be at least of that magnitude --

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: In a shorter period of time?

HASSABIS: Shorter period of time. And it may be a bigger, bigger change than that. These tools initially will be incredible enhancers for

productivity.

So people using these tools for their creativity and other things will be almost superhuman in their capabilities in the next 5-10 years. But then

beyond that, you know, we may need things like universal high income or some way of distributing all the additional productivity that AI will

produce in the economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: He is certainly more optimistic when it comes to jobs, at least on a short timeframe. You can see some huge benefits for all of us being

able to use AI to enhance our jobs and perhaps new jobs coming onto the market. But there will be disruption.

You know, the Industrial Revolution but in a very, very short timeframe, that's the thing we're looking at here.

When it comes to the bigger risks for Demis, it's really looking at artificial general intelligence. This is a huge goal for many of these

companies. And this is when AI could essentially mimic human intelligence.

So we are all designed not just to speak but to be able to cook, to be able to move, to do all sorts of different things and an AI that will be able to

achieve this is perhaps only 5-10 years away, according to Google DeepMind.

GIOKOS: But, Anna, can it replicate your brilliant personality and our interaction?

I don't think so.

So the jobpocalypse, perhaps.

I mean, we cannot this interaction cannot be replicated, right?

Right?

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: I mean, honestly, AI probably could mimic this conversation --

(CROSSTALK)

GIOKOS: What?

Never.

STEWART: I don't know whether or not it'll ever have the soul that a human can have in creative arts is another question. But there are big risks

about AGI and some of the risks for Denis Hassabis are if bad actors were to be able to repurpose it for bad ends, controlling the AI itself.

Can you make sure that the AI doesn't get too autonomous?

These are some of the risks. What is so interesting about Google DeepMind, though, is this is a company that isn't just focused on LLMs. So many of

them are really quite chatbot focused, really impressive chatbots, really impressive generative AI.

This company has made huge strides in science and medical research and some of their new projects, for instance, include video generating, VEO 3, or

Project Astra, which can help see the world around you.

And what's been really interesting is I asked, are all these projects designed to help you in your mission to AGI?

And this is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSABIS: The north star is cracking this general intelligence and then using it for scientific understanding. So everything that feeds into that

is something that we all attempt to do.

STEWART: And Google will be first?

HASSABIS: I hope so. That's the idea. But the most important thing is to make sure it's done responsibly for humanity, given what's at stake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: I mean, he says the AGI could be 5-10 years away. They hope to be the very first to achieve this. However, OpenAI; Elon Musk's company, xAI;

Anthropic AI, they are all looking at potentially a timeframe closer to two to three years.

Now, whether or not they all agree on the same definition of superhuman intelligence around AGI remains to be seen. And, of course, there's a huge

amount of investor pressure for whichever company gets there first.

There are risks. He is very clear about the risks. And that is why the engineering challenge is one thing but the policymaking challenge is

possibly even harder to achieve.

GIOKOS: Yes.

I have to say, I mean, a lot of the CEOs I speak to are like trying to figure out a way to bring in AI models into the way they conduct business.

But I just wonder if you ask the question about how you and I can still remain relevant in a vastly changing world, what are we supposed to do?

STEWART: Well, I think whenever you speak to CEOs about this -- and you'd be amazed how many times AI CEOs get asked about how we can all protect our

jobs -- it's about making sure you're on top of AI so you know how it can enhance your job so you can be the very best version of yourself so we can

all be more efficient. We can all do more.

We can all bring more quality to our jobs using the AI. That is the hope and the dream. If you ignore AI, the worry is it will replace you.

GIOKOS: Well. OK. OK. Well, Anna, you cannot be replaced, my friend. No one can replace your personality and your brilliance. So no worries. I

mean, worst-case scenario, we go and we hide away and just live off the land with absolutely no technology. Not a bad idea.

(LAUGHTER)

GIOKOS: Anna Stewart, always good to speak to you, my friend.

[10:55:00]

STEWART: Thanks.

GIOKOS: All right. Scientists have a new warning about the effects of climate change on the world's glaciers. They estimate glaciers will lose

nearly 40 percent of their mass relative to their size in 2020. And there's nothing we can do about it.

And that's assuming global temperatures stay where they are right now. If they keep rising, as expected, scientists believe glaciers could lose more

than three-quarters of their mass. As glaciers melt, sea levels will rise.

Europe's largest active volcano is less active now but officials are warning hikers not to venture too close.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS (voice-over): And you can hear Mt. Etna's immense roar during Monday's eruption. It spewed plumes of hot ash and lava several kilometers

high. It was Etna's biggest eruption in more than a decade, experts say, a brief one, lasting about nine hours.

And moving on to a beautiful story, a cosmic light show has been wowing sky watchers across the United States.

The northern lights, also known as the Aurora borealis, could be seen in several states overnight from Maine to Washington state. Forecasters say

nature's pyrotechnics were sparked by weakened solar storms after the sun's atmosphere hiccupped some massive energy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right. Thanks so much for watching. "ONE WORLD" is up next. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi.

END