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Connect the World

U.S. Navy Secretary Ousted Amid Naval Blockade of Iranian Ports; Tech Companies Scrambling for More Energy Amid AI Boom; America's Energy Grid Struggling to Keep Up with AI Growth; Spirit Airlines Close to $500M Bailout from Trump Administration; Turkish President Warns Middle East Conflict is Weakening Europe. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired April 23, 2026 - 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, a live look at the White House. U.S. President Trump refuses to put a timeline on the ceasefire with

Iran despite an escalation in the Strait of Hormuz with tit for tat tanker seizures. It's 09:00 a.m. there in Washington, 04:00 p.m. in Beirut.

Hours before the next round of talks weighed down by the Israeli military's vow to maintain a presence in the south of the country. And it is 05:00

p.m. here in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. I'm Becky Anderson from Middle East programming headquarters. This is "Connect the World".

Well, the stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now. When we look at the indications of how these markets might open through what is

going on in the U.S. futures markets, that is the picture. Well, this just in from Donald Trump's Truth Social.

He has ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be. There is to be no hesitation. Additionally, our

mine sweepers are clearing the strait right now, he says, I'm here by ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled-up level.

Well, this comes after Donald Trump refused to set a timeline, as I say, for Iran to submit a proposal to end this wider conflict. So, we are in a

deeply challenging holding pattern, it seems. I want to get straight to our reporters. Paula Hancocks is here with me in the studio.

Alayna Treene is at the White House. Alayna, let me start with you at the White House, and as we reflect on what we've just seen from Donald Trump on

his Truth Social platform. Your thoughts?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Look, I think obviously this blockade, the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports, is such a crucial

part of this ceasefire. And really, from my conversations with people in the White House, one of the key areas of leverage.

They believe that they have to one, try to inflict economic pain and pressure on the Iranians, but also try to keep them, you know, inside this

fight, to find some sort of diplomatic solution and off ramp to the war. Even as we saw the president earlier this week, announced that he was

extending the ceasefire.

Now, notably on paper, at least, he did not put a definitive timeline for when the new extension when the ceasefire would end. But we have been

hearing as well from both the president himself and the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt maintaining that, that was purposeful and that

there is no definitive timetable here. I want you to listen to how she put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president has not set a firm deadline to receive an Iranian proposal, unlike some of the reporting

I've seen today. Ultimately, the timeline will be dictated by the commander in chief and the President of United States.

Look again, I'm not going to set a timetable for the president. He has not done that, and I won't. I know there's been some anonymous sourced

reporting that there was maybe a three-to-five-day deadline. That is not true. The president has not set a deadline himself. Ultimately, he will

dictate the timetable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, they're really trying to push the idea that it's really up to the president for how long he is going to allow this ceasefire to continue.

But I will tell you, Becky, I've been having a ton of conversations with my sources throughout the administration. And the advice I know that the

president is getting from people in the Pentagon, from the CIA to the State Department has been.

Even though they are not wanting to publicly put a timetable on this, they also do not want this to drag out indefinitely. They know that the Iranians

have a track record of trying to drag out talks, and that is something they are trying to avoid here. And so internally, they are looking at, I'm told,

more of a limited time frame to allow this to continue.

But of course, at the same time, a lot of this is also up to the Iranians and also the Pakistani mediators, who are trying to pressure them to come

together around a unified proposal that can get them back to the position they were hoping to be in earlier this week, you know, trying to prepare

for a second round of in person talks to really hash out the final gaps between Washington and Tehran to make sure they can have some sort of

diplomatic solution here and an agreement to end this war more fully.

So, all of that kind of you know we're watching behind the scenes. A lot of things remain fluid, but that's kind of where things stand today.

[09:05:00]

ANDERSON: Alayna, will you stand by for just a moment? I want to bring in Paula here, because obviously Donald Trump's latest tweet very specifically

about the waters around the Strait of Hormuz. You've been watching those waters. What's the latest?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Becky, this is really in the absence of talks where we're seeing escalation at this point, this tit for

tat. And just before we saw that post from the U.S. President, we heard from the defense ministry, the Defense Department in the U.S., they

released video of what they said was them taking over a sanctioned stateless vessel.

Now this was in the Indian Ocean, so in more open water, which they say is easier to intercept. But this is a vessel they say was carrying Iranian

oil. Now this is the second one we've seen this week. Just earlier this week, there was another sanctioned vessel that the U.S. navy intercepted.

And of course, it comes after the Iranian flagship that they seized on Sunday. So, we are seeing an increase in this U.S. navy activity at the

same time as we're seeing the Iranians do something very similar. We've seen that they have claimed they have seized two international vessels, one

Liberian flag, one Panama flagged.

Now they have video, which they've released as well showing what they claim is then boarding the ship, masked men carrying guns. We can't verify that

video. We've spoken to some experts who actually suggest that it may have been done for propaganda, may not be the actual boarding of the ship.

But that aside, this is a very clear message to other vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, in these waters, that this could possibly happen to them?

ANDERSON: Yeah, it's fascinating. We're running that video as you speak. Alayna, can I bring you back in here? And before you go, there's been

another shake up in the Trump Administration's military leadership, and very specifically at the top of the navy, which I think, given you know the

conversations around the Strait of Hormuz in the U.S. blockade at this point is very significant. What do we know?

TREENE: Yeah, that's right. We've learned that the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, John Phelan, has been ousted by the Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth.

And this is something, as you mentioned. It's remarkable timing, given the importance right now of the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and in the

strait.

Now, just to give you a sense of what we've been learning, and this is great reporting from our national security team and my colleagues here at

the White House. That this has been an issue for a while. There's been tension brewing between Defense Secretary Pete Hegset then, excuse me,

there is a loud lawn mower here at the White House, if you're picking up some of that feedback, but there's been tension brewing between Hegseth and

Phelan for months now.

Part of that has been because Hegseth believes that he wasn't doing enough on ship reform. But another part of this, and I think it's really a crucial

point here, is that Phelan is someone who has long had a close relationship with the president himself. And in a White House like this, the proximity

to power and essentially, the proximity to the president is so important.

And really, what our sources have been telling us is that Phelan or Hegseth believed, at least that Phelan was going around his back often to talk

directly with President Trump. And so that's where some of this, you know, conflict, really took root. We were told that Hegseth met with the

president yesterday and essentially made the case to him for why he believed Phelan should be pushed out, and the president agreed.

But I'd remind you again, Phelan had a good relationship with the president. This was remarkable. Reporting that we learned was that,

essentially, Phelan didn't really believe that President Trump had signed off on this. He actually ended up calling a bunch two different White House

officials trying to confirm whether or not Trump had signed off on his forceful removal from his position at the top of the navy.

He ended up actually even coming to the White House and ultimately meeting with the president. But all to say, Phelan is now no longer the Secretary

of the Navy, the Under Secretary for the navy, Hung Cao is taking his place, all of it at such an important time for negotiations between

Washington and Iran, and really the importance of the navy in this blockade of Iranian ports.

ANDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. Alayna, thank you. Paula, let me just close out with just a discussion about, what are international efforts, of course, to

try to open the strait. Europe, the UK, France, leading one set, the IMO, also involve the International Maritime Organization.

These are efforts once a sustainable ceasefire is in place, of course. What's been the progress?

HANCOCKS: So, when it comes to the meeting that's going on right now with military planners in London. It's a two-day meeting. There's 30 plus

nations that have sent representatives there.

[09:10:00]

They're trying to work out exact military plans, advanced plans for how they can secure the Strait of Hormuz, as you say, once there is a proper

ceasefire in place, no one's going to send any anyone to the Strait of Hormuz at the moment. I've got a quote from the UK and French Defense

Secretary saying, your task is to translate the diplomatic consensus set by our leaders into practical military options with a coordinated joint plan

to safeguard freedom of navigation in the strait.

So that practical military options are what they're trying to work on. But again, this is for some time in the future when there is a proper deal in

place.

ANDERSON: Yeah. Not clear when that might be at this point. Good to have you and Alayna in Washington. Thank you. Well, a second round of direct

talks between Israel and Lebanon is expected in Washington soon, in the hopes of extending what is a fragile ceasefire between the IDF and the Iran

backed Hezbollah.

But it comes as Lebanon's Prime Minister is accusing Israel of committing war crimes on Wednesday by killing a journalist in an airstrike, raising

tensions ahead of today's talks. Oren Liebermann following this story for us, he is live for us now. Let's start with what we know about these

reports of the killing of a journalist in Lebanon?

And then we'll back out of that and talk about today's ceasefire talks in Washington, Oren. What do we know about reports of this Lebanese journalist

killed?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Becky, Israel carried out a series of air strikes in the village of Tidy in Southern Lebanon, about

seven or eight kilometers from the Israel-Lebanon border. These strikes happened on Wednesday, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.

One of the strikes hit a car with two journalists inside of it. Zeinab Faraj and Amal Khalil, who then after that strike, went into a nearby

building as they sought refuge and safety from further strikes, but the building itself was struck in another Israeli attack on the area, and

that's where the journalists were injured.

Rescue workers were able to get to Faraj and rescue her, but Lebanon's National News Agency says rescue workers were prevented by the Israeli

military temporarily from reaching Amal Khalil when they finally were able to get to where they understood that Khalil had been killed in an Israeli

air strike.

The Israeli military says they saw cars approaching, and they say it was coming from Hezbollah military infrastructure. There -- had a strike on the

car and then on the building itself. They say the incident itself is under review. Meanwhile, Lebanon's Prime Minister issued a statement calling

these war crimes and accusing Israel of carrying out war crimes.

That statement, and I'll read it here, says targeting journalists and obstructing the access of rescue teams to them and then the renewed

targeting of those teams after they'd arrived, constitute described war crimes. These -- Amal Khalil is the fourth journalist killed by Israeli

strikes in Lebanon since the start of a war with Iran some seven weeks ago, Becky.

ANDERSON: What do we know about these talks in Washington?

LIEBERMANN: Well, we'll see where they go. There are no great high hopes here for a major agreement to end the war. What we're looking for here is

an extension of this 10-day ceasefire, one that's fragile, as we've seen with continued Israeli air strikes on what they say are violations of the

ceasefire, and Hezbollah trying to set up attacks.

And then, according to the Israeli military, the continued launch of rockets and drones. So, in this very difficult environment with a ceasefire

that is continually day by day and sometimes hour by hour, tested. There is a second round of direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington,

D.C., under the auspices of the Trump Administration.

What are we looking for here? Well, according to Lebanese officials, Lebanon is trying to get a 30 day or one month extension of the ceasefire

to give more room for diplomacy here. That may be a difficult to ask. We'll see what the Trump Administration is able to get and what pressure they're

willing to put on Israel, but, but that's the expectation, and that's the goal here, Becky.

We're not looking for a major agreement, not a permanent ceasefire, certainly not a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon. Right now, I

think the most that can be expected are, frankly, warm words and nice statements and an extension of the ceasefire.

ANDERSON: Right. OK. Oren, thank you for that. Oren is in Jerusalem. It's just before quarter past four there. We'll get you a closer look at the

case of that journalist and others who have died at the hands of the IDF. Next hour, I'm going to speak to the Middle East and North Africa Regional

Director for the CPJ, which is the Committee to Protect Journalists.

So, do stay with us for that. Well, still to come, artificial intelligence inflating your energy bills. How can we mitigate the massive strain that

big tech is putting on the grid. And too high flying to fail.

[09:15:00]

Well, the White House is on the defensive about an expensive bailout for Spirit Airlines. More on that and their argument is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, the rapid rise of artificial intelligence is starting to run into a very real limit. Certainly, in the States, it's the power grid.

As tech companies race to build more advanced AI systems. The demand for electricity is surging, and efforts to expand the energy infrastructure, it

seems simply can't keep up.

Well, CNN AI Correspondent Hadas Gold is covering the story for us from New York. She joins us now live. Firstly, how close are we at this point, the

U.S. power grid really becoming a bottleneck for AI and tech growth?

HADAS GOLD, CNN AI CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it's already a bottleneck. AI companies have already made decisions and killed products because of the

issue with compute and with the electricity demand. This is one of the issues that is top of mind for many AI companies to the point that some

people are saying that AI companies are going to become electricity companies in the future, because they are all starting to invest in new

electricity outputs.

Because every time you talk to a ChatBot that takes up compute, it has to go to a data center, and servers are running and all of that. And as AI is

moving from the more ChatBot interface to AI agents who are constantly working in the background on your behalf, that takes up exponentially more

compute and more electricity than before.

So OpenAI, they already killed Sora. That was that social media video generation app. And one of the distinct reasons that they said they killed

it was because of the compute that it ate up. And they said, we just didn't want to have to spend money on that compute, on that electricity, and we

would rather focus that investment onto other things like robotics.

Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, he has said that the biggest issue right now is not a compute glut, not having enough compute. It's about

having enough power. But the U.S., especially the electrical grid, is janky, it's old. People have already been saying and warning that it could

barely likely survive a major cyber-attack or severe weather.

And the Trump Administration has tried to fix this. They have tried to ease delays on permitting and fast tracking, you know, the retirement of coal

fired plants. They are trying to ease back some of these environmental policies that were put into place to try and fast track the electricity,

but this is a major issue facing these AI companies today.

ANDERSON: There are potential solutions to this energy problem. Can you just explain?

GOLD: There's a lot of solutions, and all of the AI companies are literally throwing everything at the wall to try and figure out what they can do

here. So, one of the things is just to make your systems more efficient. Google, for example, has expanding its ability, which is unique in the AI

space, to be able to ramp up and down its operations depending on the demand for most data centers, it's kind of hard, you just have to go all

out or turn it off.

There's no sort of in between. Another obvious answer is to update the electrical grid, but that, of course, takes time.

[09:20:00]

And another very obvious answer is renewables, wind and solar are efficient, they are cheap, and they are something that a lot of people are

turning to. However, there have been political hurdles to this. The Trump Administration has delayed permitting Republicans in Congress.

They cut those tax credits and made it cheaper to build wind and solar and things like that. However, despite all of those hurdles, the demand is

still rising, and then also AI companies are turning to new sources of energy. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, he's invested in a new nuclear

fusion company. There's a bunch of new ideas out there for trying to find new sources of energy.

There are also ideas of getting these giant batteries that will just soak up all this energy and be there next to the data centers to help fund them.

But this is really important, not just because they want to be able to, you know, help power all of this AI and all of this new data centers.

But it's also when you think about the race with China. This is one of the things you hear from somebody like Elon Musk all of the time. They say that

winning the AI race may not come down to who has the most innovative AI and who is the most advanced. It may just come down to who has the most access

to power and electricity. And right now, China is winning that race by a mile.

ANDERSON: Yeah, Elon Musk wants to put solar panels on the moon, and it may not be as crazy an idea as it sounded when it was first mooted. Good to

have you, Hadas. Thank you very much indeed. Well, there is a common enemy unifying U.S. lawmaker on Capitol Hill who normally disagree that enemy is

a proposed big government bailout for Spirit Airlines worth half a billion dollars.

Pete Muntean here to talk about that. Pete, is an example of the unity that I was just alluding to there? Senators Ted Cruz and Elizabeth Warren, no

less, a right-wing Trump loyalist and a very progressive Democrat, both up in arms, calling this a terrible idea, and asking, what did the American

people get out of this?

So, is there an explanation for the Trump Administration's reasoning in bailing out spirit at this point?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: It really begs the question about whether or not this is indeed a good idea. Half billion dollars, $500

million with more developments on this story all the time. You know, President Trump opened the door to a possible bailout on Tuesday,

Wednesday, a source told us that the Trump Administration was in advanced talks.

And now we're told a deal could come as soon as today here in the United States. The newest wrinkle here is that this is facing some pretty big push

back in Trump's own party, with some calling this idea the nationalization of Spirit Airlines, and that it verges on socialism. Here's what we're

talking about.

A source close to these talks tells us the federal government is considering a $500 million bailout of Spirit Airlines. Do you would include

the federal government taking a stake in the airline? You have to remember, Spirit Airlines is an ultra-low-cost carrier where everything is extra,

similar to Ryanair in Europe.

Struggled to make some money, though, since the COVID pandemic. Jet Blue tried to acquire spirit in July 2022 that deal fell apart when the Biden

Administration said it would spoil competition. Then in November 2024, Spirit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

And last March, Spirit emerged from bankruptcy, but just said a few months later that would struggle to stay afloat for another year, which brings us

to now, the rise in fuel costs due to the war with Iran really has Spirit on the ropes. I asked Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about Spirit in a

one-on-one interview on Tuesday.

And I want you to listen to this now. He did not exactly commit to the idea of a bailout, which sort of signals some division within President Trump's

own cabinet. Listen. I'm sorry, this is the sound bite from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who essentially said that this is

something that the president is still pretty committed to. Here is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAVITT: Well, I understand the airline is bankrupt because the previous administration blocked the merger, which was probably not a wise move.

Obviously, this is something the Commerce Department and the president are tracking. I don't have any updates or announcements, but the aviation

industry is very important to this president and this White House, millions of Americans depend on it. We want to see the best possible outcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: So clearly, this could be a huge economic event, any way you slice it. If the federal government bails out Spirit Airlines, that would be big,

potentially saving about 14,000 jobs. It's also a huge deal for passengers if they have travel booked on Spirit Airlines, we're about to go into the

huge summer travel season.

Also begs mentioning that a lot of people have credits on Spirit Airlines. So, there's some big questions about what would happen to that. Still a lot

to play out here, Becky. We're only sort of in the genesis of this idea. And Trump really favors himself as a bit of a deal maker.

[09:25:00]

So, we'll see if this is really an attempt to save face as this war with Iran is really having huge ripple effects, not only here, but also

everywhere else.

ANDERSON: Yeah, and those effects really only just becoming clear at this point, and we have to continue to watch this space, Pete. The wider airline

industry is raising prices due to the story that we are following every day here. There is new guidance from the United Airlines boss about how long we

can expect those high prices to stick around. What are you hearing?

MUNTEAN: Well, the big thing, and the big thing that the airline CEOs are underscoring, is that there's such a huge pent-up demand for air travel

that's really not going away. So even if prices do go up, and United Airlines is saying that passengers are paying about 20 percent more per

mile than they were this time a year ago, that those prices probably won't come down, and passengers will simply swallow it.

This is old from the airline playbook. This has been around for a long time. Prices go up. Airlines essentially keep with those prices, and

passengers just have to swallow it. So, we'll see how this plays out. You know, the biggest thing here, and the latest data from travel site going is

that domestic air travel here in the U.S. has gone up about 18 percent, international travel has gone up about 8 percent so we're talking about 13

percent on average, and passengers are showing no signs of slowing down.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. Good to have you. Well, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the war in the Middle East is beginning to weaken

Europe, and I quote him there. That's according to a readout of a phone call that he had with his German counterpart.

He added, quote, if this trajectory is not addressed through a peace- focused approach, the damage from the conflict process will be much greater. Well, it comes as the European Union is counting the cost of

another energy crisis, while unveiling emergency measures to protect from soaring prices, the cost a whopping $28 billion and that is so far.

Let's get you to CNN's Hanna Ziady in London. These are emergency measures. Question is, Hanna, will they be enough at this point? And how long might

they have to go on?

HANNA ZIADY, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: That is the question, Becky. You know, beyond the terrible human toll of this conflict, the economic consequences,

as you alluded to, are growing more apparent and more severe. So just this, the effect of this dramatic plunge in oil and natural gas supply, which has

hit Asia really hard.

We've seen fuel rationing in some countries, steadily moving west to Europe. Just this morning, we had data to show that private sector output

has contracted in the euro zone for the first time in 16 months. And you know, higher gasoline prices, higher food prices, fewer more expensive

airline tickets.

So, the European Commission yesterday announcing some income support, energy vouchers, lower taxes on electricity for at least low-income

households. And also measures to coordinate jet fuel supplies, because there have been concerns in this region about possible shortages of jet

fuel.

So, the EU setting up a body to make sure that if sharing is needed, that can be coordinated any release of emergency stockpiles, airline tickets, as

you've said already, are becoming more expensive. This week, we had Germany's Lufthansa canceling 20,000 flights from its schedule over the

next six months, just to save on jet fuel costs, which have doubled since the start of the war.

Beyond airlines, the chemicals industry reporting that they could see job cuts. EU fishers, fishing fleet, some of them simply stopping fishing

because energy costs have gone up so sharply. And here in the United Kingdom, fuel retail is saying that theft. Fuel theft is on the rise

because of the increase in fuel costs.

So, motorists, kind of, you know, driving up to a gas station, filling up their tank and then driving away without paying including they say first

time offenders, kind of reflecting that this pressure on households is broadening. So, the question is, will these measures in the EU, the UK has

also announced some relief measures for households.

Will that be enough? Because, and I'd like to end with this quote, from the European Commission yesterday, I think we'll have it up on screen. The

difficulty here is that even if the war were to end this week, some of the economic damage has already been done.

And the European Commission making that point very strongly, saying, even if hostility sees immediately, disruptions to energy supplies from the Gulf

will persist for the foreseeable future. So, the economic consequences will be with us for some time, Becky.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you Hanna, thank you. We spoke to the German Foreign Minister who was talking about the impact on the Greek shipping

industry and the wider story on the Greek economy, yesterday, we can see the ripple effects in front of our eyes. All right. Thank you.

[09:30:00]

Ahead on "Connect the World" the White House confidently predicted more talks with Iran, but still nothing happening. How could that play out on

Wall Street as we look at the futures market seconds before the bell? And I want to underscore this live price break through tipping over $100 again.

We'll discuss that as the bell is rang on Wall Street, we'll discuss the oil price market move, as well as what happens after this, after the short

break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: OK, well, the bell rang about 2.5 minutes ago on Wall Street. It is 05:32 here in Abu Dhabi, 09:32 and a half in New York. Let's see how

stocks are getting on at the open. And that is the story. Wall Street is in the red after that. NASDAQ and the S&P 500 did rise to record fresh records

on Wednesday.

Hopes of an imminent resolution to this war with Iran do appear to be fading. President Trump said yesterday he is not setting a firm deadline

for ending the conflict. Today, he has posted that he has told the navy to fire on any small boats, Iranian boats that are causing problems in and

around the Strait of Hormuz.

This feels like an escalation in those critical waterways, and oil prices on the rise again, the global benchmark, Brent on track for a fourth

consecutive day of gains. Helima Croft is the Global Head of Commodity Strategy, RBC Capital Markets. She is also a Former CIA Economic Analyst.

Good to have you with your sort of background and current sort of insight and analysis. New highs on Wall Street, oil spiking. How do we read what is

going on in these markets?

HELIMA CROFT, GLOBAL HEAD OF COMMODITY STRATEGY, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS: Well, what's so interesting, Becky is, from the beginning of this conflict,

you've had a section of the market, particularly equity market, believing this war was going to end quickly.

And so, the moment that people start to realize this could be a protracted conflict going into summer. I think you'll start to see pricing dynamics,

particularly on crude, start to change. Because, again, it's the idea that we're at the finish line that has really held back prices, because very few

ships have moved through the Strait of Hormuz.

It's mainly been Iranian ships moving. Certainly, the all the talk about ceasefire has not led to the reopening of the straits.

[09:35:00]

And we're basically having to brace for very severe physical market reality, because those last ships that left before the conflict began have

reached their destination already. So now we're going to feel the impact of the shortages.

ANDERSON: Yeah, and we're looking at something like a billion barrels of oil knocked up.

CROFT: Yes.

ANDERSON: Should have been delivered by now, since the beginning of this war, and just hasn't been? I mean, that's just not going to happen at this

point. What we're seeing on Wall Street is a very different picture as well to what we are seeing on Main Street, not just in the U.S., but around the

world, the energy shock being felt globally at this point.

I hear what you're saying about, you know, perhaps these markets aren't, you know, aren't pricing in a longer-term conflict here. I think there's

also an argument that says there's just a whole load of FOMO around these equity markets.

CROFT: That's right.

ANDERSON: People are too worried not to stay in for fear of missing out, right? Is that rational?

CROFT: Right. I mean, I think again, the sort of almost an irrational optimism about the state of this conflict. And I just returned from the big

FT Commodity summit in Lausanne. And really, you had a lot of trading house executives talking about the idea that the scale of the outage is so

severe, that participants can't wrap their head around what this means, so they almost ignore it.

But we're really going to be hitting a situation if we do not get this conflict to end in a significant reopening of the straits in the next

couple of weeks, Becky, these shortages that have really impacted Asia, particularly developing market Asia, it is just going to spread west as we

go into summer.

And there is no replacement when it comes to these molecules. And you mentioned the Vitol CEO saying we've already lost a billion barrels of

crude and product already, and this is still ongoing. There's no indication that there's a plan to really reopen this critical waterway right now.

ANDERSON: And I've heard a number of people who are at that very same event that you've just come back from saying, it was just a very sort of odd

atmosphere. How would you describe it? I mean, you were surrounded by people who know their staff, who watch these molecules, as we call them,

sort of, you know, on a sort of second by second, they know what's going on in the oil industry. What was the overarching atmosphere?

CROFT: I found it a very sobering conversation. And frankly, Becky, it aligns with what I heard the week before in Washington for the bank fund

meetings, conversations, I mean, both in Washington and in Lausanne, Switzerland, there was a sense that there's a corner the market that is

just not coming to grips with the severity of the crisis.

And you hear the people tracking the ships, moving the ships, moving the molecules warning that even if the crisis ends tomorrow, you still have to

get ships that have been sent to Asia back to the region to start moving the stored petroleum products and oil, back through the straits.

And there's been significant damage to infrastructure. I mean, Fatih Birol talked about that in Washington, saying 80 facilities have been damaged. A

third of those can basically take two to three years to come back. And what we don't know yet is how severe is the damage at the sub surface level.

How much damage has been done to fields that we just can't see on satellite at this moment. But the longer this goes on, the severity the outage just

expands and the risk to further infrastructure damage grows. So there really should be an imperative to get the Strait of Hormuz open, but we

don't seem to be any closer to that at this moment.

ANDERSON: It's always good to have you. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. All right, let's move away from this conflict and the global

economy as it were. Coming up, Barcelona in Spain talisman Lamine Yamal, suffered an injury on Wednesday. I want to get you the very latest on his

status with the World Cup, of course, fast approaching.

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[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: Well, Barcelona's young whiz kid took a routine penalty and scored on Wednesday. But in the process, he injured his hamstring, fell to

the ground and had to leave the match. Amanda Davies joining me now. Barcelona releasing a statement a short time ago with some good and some

bad news regarding this young star. Amanda, what do we know at this point?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, we're talking about Lamine Yamal, and we're, of course, in this window where for players hoping to be at the

World Cup, this is absolutely not when you want to pick up an injury. We've just passed the 50 days to go mark Lamine Yamal burst onto the scene as a

16-year-old playing for Spain at the European Championships.

He's now 18. This set to be his first World Cup, representing Spain, and a whole lot of people held their breath as he limped off the picture on

Wednesday night. The statement from Barcelona has said he will play no more part in this domestic season, so the Spanish league season.

But fascinatingly, for a club statement, they have made mention of the World Cup, and they have said he is expected to be available for the World

Cup. It will, of course, be a race against time to make it and to be fit to play, but not all lost. But we've got more on that, and a whole lot more

coming up in just a couple minutes, Becky, in "World Sport".

ANDERSON: Good. "World Sport" is up after this short break. I'll be back 15 minutes time with more "Connect the World". Stay with us.

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[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

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