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At Least 20 People Killed Including Journalists In Israeli Strikes On Nasser Medical Complex; More Than 240 Journalists Killed In Gaza During War; National Guard Troops In D.C. Now Carrying Weapons On Patrol; Trade And Security In Focus As South Korean President Visits Donald Trump; Venezuelans Sign Up To Join Militia Amid United States Threats; Clinic Uses Technology To Promote Healthier Living And Longevity; . Aired 10-11a ET

Aired August 25, 2025 - 10:00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:30]

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

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome to the second hour of the show from our Middle East programming headquarters. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi,

where the time is just after 6:00 in the evening.

More than a dozen people killed in Israeli strikes on NASA Hospital in southern Gaza, including journalists for several news organizations.

Soon, U.S. President Trump will be signing new executive orders in the Oval Office. We'll get you the big takeaways on that.

South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung is in Washington to meet with the president today. This meeting comes at a crucial time as both Seouls trade

military relationships with the U.S. are facing pressure.

Well, new Israeli attacks on a Gaza medical facility have killed at least 20 people, including four journalists. This video showing the immediate

aftermath of the first of two strikes that health officials say happened just moments apart at the NASA medical complex in Khan Yunis.

That first strike hit a hospital balcony used by journalists for an elevated view of the area of Khan Yunis. The IDF claiming it, "Does not

target journalists as such," and I quote them there and saying that the military chief has instructed an inquiry into the attack.

Our Paula Hancocks back with us. And Paula, I just spoke with Jodie Ginsberg, the president of the Committee to Protect Journalists. This is

what she said about the reporters in Gaza. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JODIE GINSBERG, PRESIDENT, COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS: We're in this endless loop because Israel has not been accounted held accountable for any

of these killings. This is the deadliest conflict for journalists that CPJ has ever documented. To date, 196 journalists, if we include today's

killings have been killed. 189 of those are Palestinians killed by Israel.

And despite the fact that Israel keeps saying it doesn't deliberately target journalists, the evidence is very different.

To be clear, if it is a double tap that is considered to be a war crime, this attack, which we believe was deliberately intended to take out the

camera, the camera being used by Reuters cameraman. He was killed in the first attack. Then, as you say, first responders moved in, including

journalists, and they were killed in a second attack.

So, in both instances, it looks like Israel has committed unlawful killings war crimes, both in the deliberate killing of the Reuters cameraman and in

this so called double tap attack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: So, just explain what we do know about what happened, and what do you make of her comments?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we have footage of the event itself after the first strike did hit the fourth floor of Nasser

hospital, and we do see a number of emergency workers, health workers, journalists that have rushed to the scene. They are there to help the

casualties of the first strike. You see at one moment, somebody holding up a damaged camera, presumably the Reuters camera. You also see a white body

bag being taken down the steps by the emergency workers.

But just minutes after that first strike, there is that second strike. Now, we are not showing the moment of the impact, but we do see those on the

staircase, the damaged staircase, disappearing behind smoke and dust.

And when that dust settles, that is when we know that the death toll is significantly higher, at least for journalists, at least four emergency

workers. We're hearing from the Civil Defense that they had been targeted as well as they were trying to help casualties from that first strike.

So, this is the focus at this point. We're hearing from the Israeli military. They say they don't target journalists as such. They say they are

looking into this. They have an initial inquiry that's going to happen as soon as possible, and they admit that they did carry out a strike near

Nasser hospital.

So, we're trying to join the dots at this point, but certainly chilling footage of what exactly happened in Khan Yunis today.

[10:05:04]

ANDERSON: Chilling footage of a conflict that continues, of course. Benjamin Netanyahu claims he is, "Immediately starting negotiations to

release all the hostages and end the war." Can you explain whether or not this is a change in strategy by the Israeli prime minister?

HANCOCKS: I mean, it certainly appears to be on the face of it. Just last month, the Israeli prime minister had agreed to a proposal from the U.S.

Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff where there were going to be 10 living hostages, the remains of 18 deceased hostages released over about a 60-day

temporary cease fire in return for Palestinian prisoners.

Now, that is something that Israel had agreed to, and they had walked away, along with the U.S., claiming that Hamas was not negotiating in good faith.

Just a week ago, Hamas then agreed to largely the same proposal that had come just last month. But now we are hearing that the Israeli Prime

Minister wants all of the hostages. It's believed there are 50 hostages still being held by Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza. All of the

hostages to be released at the same time, and really a different proposal to be happening.

Now, he is saying this and is not seeing, at least we're not seeing publicly any pushback from the Trump administration.

So, presumably, this has the green light of the U.S. President Donald Trump. It has the green light of his administration.

So, although we are hearing from the Israeli side that they are immediately going to be continuing these negotiations, it is a departure from a

position that we really have been seeing over many months from the Israeli prime minister that it would be a partial deal, and they would then sit

down and discuss a more permanent cease fire and the release of the remaining hostages. That certainly seems to have changed, Becky.

ANDERSON: Paula Hancocks on the story for us. Paula, thank you.

On World Press Freedom Day in May last year, CNN profiled one of the journalists killed in today's strike, Mariam Abu Dagga, a freelancer with

the AP back then, she told us that despite her fears of being targeted, she was resolved to cover the conflict on the ground. "This is our journalistic

duty. It is entrusted upon us. We challenge the Israeli occupation. We challenged the difficult circumstances and the reality of this war, she

said, a genocidal war."

Well, she leaves behind a teenage son who she sent here to the UAE for safety. Since that profile last year, nearly a hundred more journalists

have been killed, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Each one living -- leaving behind a loved ones. Of course, each voice silenced

while Israel, to this day, refuses to give international journalists independent access into Gaza.

I want to bring you my more of my interview last hour with the president of the CPJ, Jodie Ginsberg, she highlighted the extreme danger facing the

press in Gaza. I asked her about her group's efforts to get Israel to stop what appears to be, most cases, the indiscriminate killing of journalists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINSBERG: We are in contact. We ask for an explanation every time a journalist is killed, we don't always hear back. In the cases where we do

often, as was the case with Anas Al-Sharif and others, we hear the allegations that journal -- those journalists were considered by Israel to

be terrorists. We don't get any verifiable or credible evidence from them.

But you're right, ultimately, it is extraordinarily frustrating and upsetting to be here two years -- almost two years since the start of the

war. We have been warning since the beginning that Israel was killing journalists unlawfully, and we had not only very little response from

Israel, but very little public condemnation from the international community.

ANDERSON: Let's just repeat how we started this, the U.N. assessing or compiling numbers, and we are talking numbers at this point. Nobody is a

mere number, when we -- when we consider 240 journalists killed in Gaza since the conflict began, this is just truly extraordinary stuff, and the

stakes, of course, are enormous.

As Paula pointed out, no international media journalists allowed in other than on embeds every so often with the Israeli army, no independent news

gathering by the international media allowed in Gaza, so we rely heavily on our Palestinian colleagues.

I just wonder why it is that you believe Israel is giving no independent access to Western journalists at this point?

[10:10:04]

And if you can put in to perspective for us just how unprecedented that is and why it is so damaging?

GINSBERG: Well, firstly, let's speak to, when we say there's no independent journalism taking place in Gaza, there is independent journalism. There are

hundreds of journalists who have been day in, day out, reporting what is happening inside Gaza. They happen to be Gazan journalists, Palestinian

journalists, in the same way that American journalists report on American politics and the situation in America or British ones do in the U.K.

The challenge is the fact that there has been no international access has allowed Israel to perpetuate this narrative that none of the journalists in

Gaza are trustworthy, and therefore their narrative is not to be trusted. What they are documenting, what we are seeing, what we are hearing, is not

to be trusted, and that is part of a deliberate strategy. That's part of a deliberate strategy to control the narrative on what's happening inside

Gaza, the killings of journalists, the targeting of media facilities, the banning of news outlets like Al Jazeera, the sanctioning of independent

Israeli outlets like Haaretz, is all part of a deliberate strategy to control what we, the international public, is seeing on Gaza.

ANDERSON: What happens next?

GINSBERG: We've got to see more robust response from the international community. There must be demands for accountability. We heard after the

last attack two weeks ago on the Al Jazeera news crew, we heard a very clear call from Germany, a traditional ally of Israel, that it wanted an

explanation for why it's all fit to kill those other journalists alongside Anas Al-Sharif. We've not yet had an explanation for that. We need to see

more of those calls. We need to see conditionality put in in international -- in the international community's relationships with Israel. We need to

see more strong demands for media to access Gaza. We heard even Donald Trump a few weeks ago, say that he would like to see international

journalists be allowed into Gaza, that's vital.

And of course, for journalists who have been covering this war tirelessly since the beginning, the ability to leave Gaza to get some respite and some

medical treatment, including the journalists from Reuters who was injured in today's attack, those three things are absolutely vital.

ANDERSON: We've been reporting on the latest in this war, but head online for in depth reporting about exactly what is going on on the ground in Gaza

that is on your CNN app or at CNN.com, of course.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: All right, detailed satellite images in this report show just how different Gaza city looks from last month. What I find most interesting

about this piece is the context about just how much life has changed.

CNN reports, "While life was far from easy in Gaza City, with half the population unemployed and Hamas is police strictly patrolling the streets,

you could still get a matcha latte on the way to a yoga studio or relax in the park. Today, what was once a cultural and financial hub of the enclave

lies in lawless ruins." And you can find more details let's say on that, on lawlessness and how gardens are dealing with it online and on CNN's app.

Well, now that the Trump administration has armed troops on the ground in D.C., it appears similar plans are in the works for other cities, all of

them in blue states.

And South Korea's new president has been studying the art the deal on his way to the White House. We look at the challenges he may face today as he

meets with President Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:16:03]

ANDERSON: U.S. National Guard troops are now carrying guns as they patrol the streets of Washington, D.C., that is on the orders of Defense Secretary

Pete Hegseth despite an earlier statement from the Pentagon that the troops would not be armed unless it was deemed necessary.

Well, this is all part of President Trump's solution to what he has framed as a crime problem that is out of control, and similar crackdowns may be

coming soon to other cities, including Chicago.

CNN's National Security Reporter Zachary Cohen joining us now from Washington. And Zachary, the Pentagon then previously indicating Guard

members would only be armed if circumstances warranted. So, what do we understand about why it is that Pete Hegseth has made this decision?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Becky, it's notable that there's no obvious indication that the mission for these guard troops

has changed after the decision to order them to be armed while they're patrolling the streets of D.C., which raises some questions, because, as we

know, the Trump administration, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have really leaned into and reveled in the optics of having uniformed guard

troops in the city helping provide support for law enforcement.

Now, that is really important to note that up until now and still to this moment, they are providing a support role for law enforcement, meaning they

don't have law enforcement authorities that they don't conduct law enforcement tasks. I think this decision by the Defense Secretary raises

questions if that mission could change, and not just in D.C., as Donald Trump looking to expand this crackdown on crime, this federal crackdown to

other cities, Democrat controlled cities. It remains to be seen what role the National Guard might play there as well.

And look, the politics of this are incredibly complicated. At the moment, we've seen Donald Trump clash up against mayors and city officials from not

just Washington, D.C., but also places like Chicago, places like L.A., places like New York, Baltimore, where he has threatened to send the

National Guard to as well.

And so, it's really interesting to see an analysis of city data from D.C., it has shown a moderate drop in reported crime since this federal takeover

really started on August 12th.

But more importantly, there has been a significant surge in the number of immigrants who have been arrested during that same time frame. So, clearly,

there's an immigration element to this mission as well. We'll have to see if that pattern and that formula is replicated in other cities, but that is

really the chief concern prompted by this development of arming the National Guard troops and questions about what their authorities and their

role will be next.

ANDERSON: Zach, thank you. CNN's senior politics reporter Stephen Collinson also with us, and Stephen, you are in Washington as well watching this play

out in D.C. What's your take on the national guard now bearing arms on patrol?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER: Well, I think there are plenty of reasons why Donald Trump is doing this and pursuing this wider

crackdown. I don't think that a serious attempt to control crime is among the top five. It's all about performative strength. Trump wants to impose

his own power and that of the federal government on various democratic jurisdictions, Washington, D.C., Chicago, potentially New York.

All of these are liberal cities which massively rejected him repeatedly in elections, and this is all part of the strong man persona. Trump can come

out and say, well, I'm cracking down on crime, and the Democrats are thus forced into a difficult position if they complain about the legal and

constitutional questions here, the Republicans can then brand them as soft on crime, while, you know, people do not necessarily want to see troops on

the streets, there are concerns among people in many of these cities that, you know, crime is higher than it should be.

[10:20:05]

ANDERSON: And what recourse do Democrats in these blue states that Trump has his sights on, what recourse do they have? And to your point, just how

much pushback can you expect given that many of their constituents may actually have some sympathy, if not support, for this policy?

COLLINSON: I think you could get many Democrats who would like more help from the federal government. They'd like more FBI officers, for example, to

cooperate in violent crime initiatives. The problem here is, is that Trump is bringing powers from outside, or plans to at least say he goes into

Chicago from outside the state and employing federal power. This has been one of the great fault lines of Americans, of democracy for, you know, 250

years, the division between whether the federal government has power or whether the state and local governments have power, I think you'll see a

lot of legal changes.

It's one thing for Donald Trump to send troops onto the streets of Washington, D.C. and to take control of the police service within limits.

He can do that because Washington is a federal district and not a state, but states have far more reserve power from the federal government, and

this is going to end up being a constitutional question.

The problem is that Trump does have the power to declare a national emergency. He's done it in all sorts of ways, for example, on tariffs, and

even though there often isn't a national emergency, he can do so and then unlock extra presidential powers, which are far harder to stop.

But I think we're going to see a big legal and constitutional clash between state and federal governments if Trump decides to try and expand this to

Chicago or New York or Oakland California or Baltimore and Maryland.

ANDERSON: Yes, fascinating. While I've got you, let's talk about the South Korean president's trip to Washington. I just wonder how Donald Trump's

America first agenda is likely to drive these discussions. What do you expect to hear at this point?

COLLINSON: I think in normal times, the key goal of a visit by a South Korean president or a Japanese prime minister or a Philippine president

would be to build us power in the Pacific with an eye on the competition and potential future confrontations with China. That's not the way Donald

Trump operates.

He's already posting on social media this morning about conditions, the political conditions, the crisis in in South Korea. He's trying to leverage

everything he can. Firstly, I think, to get a better deal, if you like, for US troops, to try and get, you know, South Korea to pay more money for the

U.S. troop garrison, as he did in the first term, and to leverage countries like South Korea and Japan on tariffs.

So, he doesn't see a Pan Pacific policy so much as an attempt to get another country across the table, and he can do what he sees as a better

deal for the United States. It's a very transactional and binary foreign policy approach, and Trump basically it's at the root of all his foreign

policy. He sees the United States as a great power, and every other power needs to accept being dominated by the stronger party.

ANDERSON: This is a new South Korean president, if you were advising him, which, of course, you're not. But if you were advising him, given what you

know about Washington, D.C. in this new Trump era, what would you tell him and his delegation as they head to the White House?

Pan Pacific Well, I'm sure they've been watching every other foreign leader that's come to the White House and endured this, you know, televised trial

by fire in the Oval Office. Just look at those European leaders last week that came on the Ukraine issue exactly a week ago, each of them modeled

flattery with Donald Trump, with a very well-prepared approach, trying to put their points across individually. And I think that's a model.

The problem that leaders have is, you know, there's a level of self- debasement that's necessary when you go into that meeting with Donald Trump, and that can create political issues back home, a lot of leaders

have walked that tightrope, Keir Starmer, the British Prime Minister, French President Emmanuel Macron, for example.

So, it's very difficult. You know, I'm kind of surprised that a lot of these countries still come and have their moment in the spotlight on

television with Donald Trump, but I guess at some sense, that's tantamount to, you know, American power, which is trying to wield.

[10:25:04]

But ultimately, I think it's going to do long term damage to the image of the United States and the world.

ANDERSON: Interesting. It's always good to have you, regular guest on this show. Good friend of the show. Stephen Collinson, catch his analysis at

CNN.com and on your app.

I want to get more on this South Korean president's visit to Washington. Thank you, Stephen.

Mike Valerio joins me from Seoul, so back home where you are in Seoul. What is the understanding as to what South Korea is hoping comes out of this

meeting that's on the White House?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So sorry, Becky, I got to apologize. I just lost my earpiece. And if Stephen has said any of this, forgive me

forever. But I'm going to try to talk through this as I just lost my communication to the control room.

So, what we have seen is certainly the worst nightmare from the point of view of politicos and officials from the Blue House, the presidential

office here in Seoul.

To talk you through this Truth posting that the president of the United States made a couple minutes ago questioning the stability of South Korea,

this seems Becky, as though he is throwing his weight behind conservative allies of the now ousted president of this country, Yoon Suk Yeol, who

declared martial law in December, sending troops, Special Forces, troops, the (INAUDIBLE) to the National Assembly, the heart of democracy, outlawing

political activity throughout this country in a unilateral proclamation for all of six hours until opposition lawmakers voted to undo his proclamation

of martial law.

What the president of the United States seems to be asserting with this Truth post is that the former president who was removed from martial law

was improperly removed.

And I'll tell you, Becky, that is what conservative allies of the now removed president of South Korea have been hoping for for months. They've

been wanting U.S. President Donald Trump to say that this was some sort of coup or purge or revolution, exactly what the president put out on Truth.

But we have to reiterate that this former conservative president was removed in April a unanimous decision by this country's highest court

saying that he absolutely overtook the guardrails of this country's constitution.

So, how they can have any normal conversation in front of the fireplace in the Oval Office now seems to be in doubt. What they were supposed to talk

about was how to cooperate with U.S. troops here on the Korean peninsula. How much South Korea could be potentially paying more for them in the

future, if they could be used on missions to counter China, for example, investments in ship building for South Korea, a leader in that industry, to

help rejuvenate America's business in the ship building ecosystem, how to cooperate with North Korea.

So, we will be intently watching to see if this Oval Office meeting can be saved. We're going to check our technology here, get my earpiece fixed. So,

I apologize for that, but we'll be back and certainly watching this with a microscope. Because again, this is the worst fears of the political class

here in Seoul, certainly in the presidential office seeming to be realized with one social media post, Becky.

ANDERSON: And you are absolutely -- you are absolutely forgiven. It's not your fault that the comms went down. You didn't repeat anything. But it's

important to point out that we haven't actually read that Truth Social post out specifically. So, let's do that now.

This is Donald Trump posting around 9:20 a.m. Eastern Time, which is just a couple of hours before the scheduled arrival of the new South Korean

president to the White House. "What is going on in South Korea? Seems like a purge or revolution. We can't have that and do business there. I am

seeing the new president today at the White House. Thank you for your attention to this matter."

Mike's perspective on that, I think, very clear, despite the fact that he was struggling a little bit with the technology, good to have him out of

Seoul and a very important meeting to keep across, and we will do that for you here on CNN, of course.

[10:29:48]

Coming up, Venezuela building up a militia, a amid increasing pressure by the United States. We'll have the details on that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. You are watching CONNECT THE WORLD, with me, Becky Anderson. Here are your headlines.

And U.S. National Guard troops, patrolling Washington, D.C. are now carrying weapons on the orders of the Defense Secretary Hegseth. The troops

were deployed to fulfill President Trump's crackdown on crime in the nation's capital. Officials say they plan next to send troops to Chicago.

Health officials in Gaza say dual attacks on the Nasser medical complex killed at least 20 people, including several journalists. Officials say

Israel staged what's called a double tap strike with the second strike killing the media workers, health workers and emergency crews. The head of

the Committee to Protect Journalists calls that a war crime.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who has become a symbol of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown is now back in custody. He turned himself in to ICE

officials in Baltimore earlier today. His attorneys were informed on Friday that he may be deported to Uganda unless he accepts a plea deal today that

would instead see him deported to Costa Rica.

Crowds of people lined up in the Venezuelan capital over the weekend to register to join the militia, a branch of the army after President Nicolas

Maduro called on Venezuelans to stiffen their defenses in the face of American threats. The call to arms came after the Trump administration

doubled the reward for information that would lead to Maduro's arrest and ordered more naval patrols in the seas around Latin America and the

Caribbean.

One man in Caracas described what Maduros appeal meant to his fellow citizens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTO ALAIZA, PUBLIC SECTOR WORKER, VENEZUELA (through translator): We are responding to the call made by the Constitutional president of the

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, as we enroll in the Bolivarian militia to prevent any empire from setting foot on this homeland

of liberators again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Patrick Oppman is with us now, and you're in Havana watching this unfold. How big was the turnout for the militias'

registration drive, Patrick?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Nicolas Maduro seems to be employing the old adage of not letting a good crisis go to waste, and is

trying to whip up support in a country that, of course, is just exhausted by economic decline and political strife.

So, here, we saw crowds of people, you know, some of the remaining faithful to the Bolivarian revolution. But many of them, frankly, you know, by their

own admission had no military experience or quite elderly.

[10:35:04]

And so, you know, you don't make an army overnight how useful would these people really be outside of propaganda purposes, yes, in the unlikely event

that you have U.S. troops on the ground in Venezuela? You know, it just remains to be seen, really, but Nicolas Maduro, throughout the weekend, was

trying to rally people and called on them to come out and help with their homelands defense.

ANDERSON: Not only is he calling up people to join this militia, for want of a better term, he has brought up China in the context of rising threats

from the U.S. and what's, what's the strategy? How much support do you think he's going to get from the Chinese, if at all?

OPPMANN: Apologies, Becky. I thought we were going to go to a sound bite with Nicolas Maduro, you know, calling on his citizens to take up arms in

the militia there. China is a key ally. Russia is a key ally. Nicolas Maduro, despite, you know, having close alliances with these countries,

we've not heard a lot from them recently about this. They seem to be waiting to see what the U.S. does here. Of course, it's an unprecedented

display of military hardware off the -- U.S. military hardware off the coast of Venezuela.

And so, that, of course, has Maduro spoke, as well as that $50 million reward. So, you know, he had Maduro kind of making this bizarre pretend

phone call on a Chinese phone to Chinese leader, to Xi Jinping, and saying, you know, sort of showing that, I call him all the time, he gave me this

satellite phone.

But at the end of the day, it is U.S. warships off his coast, they have called for his removal. That he is not a legitimate president. They say

that he is involved in drug trafficking, something that he has denied over the years, although there very clearly is a lot of drugs being moved

through the Caribbean, being moved through South America, parts of Venezuela.

So, Nicolas Maduro, at this point, is feeling more pressure than he has in years. Will he escape this crisis, as he has throughout so many crises?

Most likely. But the Trump administration is definitely raising the heat on him, and I'm sure he's keeping a close eye -- 24/7 close eye on all these

U.S. Navy assets right off his coast, which could certainly, if not bring him down, if not defeat his army, are certainly putting pressure on him in

a way that he has not felt in some years.

ANDERSON: Yes, it's good to have you. Thank you.

Up next, my interview with the head of a clinic here in Abu Dhabi, using technology to help people live longer, healthier. Live staff is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:39:58]

ANDERSON: When we talk about longevity, you hear an awful lot of talk about longevity these days. The quality of life is just important as its length.

That's certainly what we are talking about when we talk about longevity science.

Well, at the world's first research based regulated longevity medicine facility here in Abu Dhabi, transformative technologies will help reverse

and prevent diseases. Well, as part of CNN new series, "INTELLIGENT FUTURE", I sat down with the clinic's CEO, Nicole Sirotin to discuss how

this might impact patients.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: You are basically telling me to eat more vegetables, walk more and faster, keep fitter --

(CROSSTALK)

NICOLE SIROTIN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, INSTITUTE FOR HEALTHIER LIVING ABU DHABI: Yes.

ANDERSON: Effectively. Which is all great advice.

SIROTIN: Yes.

ANDERSON: But how much deeper does it go?

Dr. Nicole, it's great to have you. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. You just introduce yourself.

SIROTIN: I am the CEO of the Institute for Healthier Living Abu Dhabi, and I am one of the first experts in lifestyle medicine to be certified, and

then, had the amazing privilege to help create the first licensed longevity clinic in the world. And the Abu Dhabi government has been the first in

that space to be able to say, we are going to help shape this field.

And so, as an internal medicine physician, over the years, you learn about what patients really need, how you can help them, but lifestyle medicine

takes into consideration, what can you do as a patient, right? So, we help empower patients in that.

ANDERSON: So, what are the issues that people here and around the world that from your experience here, face? is this about preventing or treating

chronic disease, very specifically?

SIROTIN: So, chronic disease is the biggest driver of all healthcare costs, right? We know that. And this region has a higher burden of chronic disease

than others. Right? At a younger age.

ANDERSON: We are talking about what? Diabetes?

SIROTIN: Diabetes, heart disease, cancer, obesity. It's like we have a tap and it's flowing with all of this disease, and this is globally, right? And

we, in the healthcare system, we are just mopping up the floor, right? And we're doing a very good job of mopping up that floor, but no one's turning

off that tap, right?

And so, part of the story of why the Institute exists and where my own career has taken me is actually understanding that we have to be able to

slow down the rate and the amount of chronic disease.

ANDERSON: So, at the heart of this is precision medicine, preventative health care. Am I right in saying that?

SIROTIN: Absolutely. So, part of the issue is we know a lot about the chronic disease trajectory. We know a lot about the ways in which that

develops. What are the risk factors, but we still have the system where we're just reacting. Part of the way that we are trying to reshape things

here and with the institute, is to think about, how do we keep people healthy. And the big question in healthcare is, who is going to pay for

that, right? Who is going to pay to keep you healthy?

And so, when you think about having the incentives aligned, where you have, let's say, a government that pays for healthcare for their population, and

then, that population, of course, is better off when they are healthy, and therefore, they can live longer, healthier lives, and they save the system

money. And there is more grandparents around to hang out with their grandkids.

ANDERSON: The strategic vision for precision health, here, for healthy longevity --

(CROSSTALK)

SIROTIN: Yes.

ANDERSON: -- in Abu Dhabi is very much data driven.

SIROTIN: Absolutely.

ANDERSON: Huge investment in artificial intelligence, for example here. Can you just explain to me how the work that you are doing very specifically

here will be accelerated and more successful because of the injection of digitalization and A.I.?

SIROTIN: Absolutely.

[10:45:00]

So, at the institute, we are putting forward a public health initiative with the government, hand in hand, to think about how do we identify risk

on a population level? And this is where the Emirati Genome Project, where we have over 800,000 people who their genome has been sequenced. This is

unprecedented globally.

And those 800,000 people all have a health record. And so, that means we understand also some of their clinical risks, or what diseases they might

have, their family history, what has happened to them over their lives. We can use all of that data, plus, the machine learning systems and the A.I.

systems that have been trained to identify risk, right? From a data set, and say, these 10 people are at very high risk of disease.

Now, those 10 people, we can then pull out of the normal health system and put them through a program that's focused on healthy longevity. You can

actually slow their chronic disease risk and maybe even reverse it.

ANDERSON: What are you most excited about at this point?

SIROTIN: I am most excited about how we are going to help people transform their lives, honestly. I mean, when I think about the way we started the

institute, this came really from a patient experience. I had a patient walk in my door, Emirati man in his 50s. He had high blood pressure. He said,

Doctor, I don't need these medicines.

Well, OK. That's not my normal visit, right? And we went through a series of tests. Sure enough, he doesn't need his medications. And I asked him,

what do you do? And he said, I fixed my diet. I'm exercising. What we did though, in those visits, the subsequent visits, because, of course, there

wasn't much to talk about. I'm like, keep going. You are doing great, right? What else are you going to say? We started talking about what we

need to do here. How can we help individuals empower themselves?

And then, that transformed into what kind of technologies do we need to do to do this in a really modern way? So, what we were able to do is take that

story of his, where it really was transformational, and think about how we apply that into the system.

Now, that person is now on the board at the Institute for Healthier Living Abu Dhabi.

ANDERSON: Very good.

SIROTIN: And --

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: Looking great?

SIROTIN: Looking great, feeling great.

ANDERSON: Younger than -- looking younger than he should?

SIROTIN: Yes, younger than he should, definitely.

ANDERSON: I will have to meet this man, I want to be on his meds, off his meds, is it work? Yes.

SIROTIN: And what we are -- what we are doing, and what excites me is that we can actually take that model, add in the technology piece and the

precision medicine piece to be able to say you as an individual, we understand your risk earlier. We have tried and true, proven ways to help

you reduce that risk, be healthier for longer, right?

We also have the ability to apply that to an entire health system, and this is where that's not happening anywhere in the world.

ANDERSON: I was going to ask you, what it is, very specifically about here that makes this sort of scalable across the entire health system here?

SIROTIN: You have nowhere else on earth where the government is really aligning the incentives with health, right? And that's what's happening.

So, we have an engaged government. We have a way to help shape the practice of medicine, of keeping people healthy, and we have local and global

engagement on the science side.

And so, when you combine these efforts, you are actually saying we are incentivized to help keep people healthy.

ANDERSON: Are you telling me that people are going to be just living longer lives? You're certainly, I think, telling me that they will be aging

better.

SIROTIN: Yes.

ANDERSON: And living healthier lives.

SIROTIN: Yes.

ANDERSON: But what's the sort of -- what's the north star here?

SIROTIN: I think that has to be our north star always, actually. Because all of us have seen older people who are not thriving, and I don't think

anyone would ever want that for themselves or their loved ones. Right? And so, if we keep our focus on health, the extension of years will come. We

know that at the level of the mitochondria, which is this tiny, little engine in your cell, we have changes happening right now, because we're

having this interesting conversation, right?

And that when people, let's say, meditate or pray, right? That there is changes that you can see on that cellular level. And I -- if we focus on

the human element of that, actually keeping us all engaged and connected, we will be able to be thriving.

[10:50:00]

ANDERSON: Thank you. This has been fascinating. Thank you.

SIROTIN: You are very welcome. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, U.S. soft drinks giant Keurig Dr Pepper is set to create a global coffee giant. It's buying Dutch coffee group, JD Peet's -- JDE

Peet's for more than $18 billion.

The company behind Dr Pepper and 7UP soft drinks, of course, is set to separate into a soft drinks company and a coffee group. Coffee hugely

popular, of course, with Americans who drink 560 million cups every day. That is 560 million cups every day.

CNN's business and economics reporter Anna Cooban is standing by for us, not in the States, but in London, where I don't think they drink anything

like that, although, we drink a lot of coffee in the U.K.

Talk us through this deal. What now?

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: Well, yes, as you mentioned, Becky, this is a mega deal, $18 billion-worth. And what they

want to do is merge and then split. They want to create two mega companies, one the coffee company that they believe will bring in around $16 billion

worth of annual sales, and the soda company, which will represent around $11 billion-worth of annual sales.

Now, JDE Peet's is a Dutch company. It's the owner of brands such as Kenco and Douwe Egberts and Peet's -- the Peet's Coffee chain.

And then, you've got Keurig Dr Pepper, which, of course, is responsible for Dr Pepper, which was the U.S.'s second most popular soda drink last year,

just after Coca-Cola. It also owns brands such as 7UP, Schweppes and Snapple. So, what they want to do is create these two mega companies that

they believe will be poised to really take advantage of a market that's very receptive to these products.

You've just mentioned just how many cups of coffee Americans drink per day. But also, Dr Pepper, and many of these soda brands are household names and

will continue to be so.

ANDERSON: Yes, good to have you. Thank you for that. You're up to date.

Tennis fans at the U.S. Open, Sunday, witnessed a major meltdown in the middle of a first-round match. Have a look at this.

It started when a photographer walked onto court just as France's Benjamin Bonzi was about to attempt a second serve. Now, you can see the

photographer in the upper right of your screen. A former number one, Daniil Medvedev, was at the other end.

But because of the distraction, the umpire told Bonzi to restart with his first serve. His ruling infuriated Medvedev, who stormed towards the chair

yelling at the umpire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIIL MEDVEDEV, RUSSIAN PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: That is the first -- that is the first serve. You want to go home. He wants to go home, guys. He

doesn't like to be here. He gets paid by the match, not by the hour. Yes?

ANDERSON (voice over): And it sort of went on and on. Play was paused for six minutes because of his outburst and boos from the crowd. When play

restarted, Bonzi lost the interrupted game, but he did go on to win the match.

And watch this. After losing, Medvedev returned to his seat, took out his rage on his racket. Bad day at the office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice over): Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Tommy Fleetwood won Golf Tour championship to capture his maiden PGA victory on Sunday. The World Number

10 secured the $10 million prize and the FedEx Cup,

[10:55:04]

CNN's Don Riddell asked him how it felt to finally get there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Tommy, many congratulations. Your quest for your first PGA Tour wins felt more like an odyssey at times, but finally,

you've done it. If you can close your eyes for a moment and let it sink in, what are the emotions that you are experiencing.

TOMMY FLEETWOOD, WINNER, 2025 FEDEX CUP: I think multiple, like, it's not nearly sunken yet, but I think there's definitely some relief there. There

is some pride, there's joy. There is -- there is a lot of things. I think that a lot has gone into the story that has been me chasing that first PGA

Tour win, and yes, it's been an amazing place to do. It's been an amazing day. And yes, very, very happy.

RIDDELL: Every time you and I speak, we talk about your love of the Everton Football Club. And they are a team who don't always put a smile on their

fans faces.

FLEETWOOD: Yes.

RIDDELL: But I feel like there was a good omen today. First game in their new stadium.

FLEETWOOD: Yes.

RIDDELL: And they won. Did you feel some synergy? Did you feel as though that might have helped you in any way today?

FLEETWOOD: Oh, no, very unlikely that you get both in a day. So, I don't know, I don't know. But yes, it's been a great day. They put on a great

performance this morning that I watched in the hotel room, and then, came out, and it was my turn to play. So, a really, really great day for us all

around Evertonians.

RIDDELL: Well-played. And well-played in the Ryder Cup. I know you are going to do great.

FLEETWOOD: Thank you. Thank you so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Good stuff. That's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with us. So -- stay with CNN, of course. We are wrapping it up for the evening. Stay with

CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END