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Connect the World
Israel & Hezbollah Traded Fire as White House Talks Took Place; Ukraine Develops Robots to Take on Russian Infantry; Mass Shooting Plan Thwarted by Network of Law Enforcement; UAE Plans for 50 Percent of Government Jobs to Run on AI in Two Years; U.S. Soldier Arrested for Allegedly Betting on Maduro Raid. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired April 24, 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, this is the scene in Washington near where Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, just finished a
news conference around the war in Iran. It is 09:00 a.m. in Washington, 06:00 p.m. in Islamabad. As sources tell CNN that it's Iran's Foreign
Minister is headed there.
We're working our sources to understand what this means for potential talks. And it is 05:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi. From our Middle East programming
headquarters, I'm Becky Anderson. You're watching "Connect the World". And the stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now.
And futures indicating a mixed start, reflecting the sort of wider discourse, frankly, as we continue to watch developments in this region.
Well, we start with the Pentagon briefing on the U.S. war with Iran. The U.S. Defense Secretary and Joint Chiefs Chair both emphasizing U.S. control
of the waters around Iran and U.S. efforts to track down sanctioned ships globally. Here's Pete Hegseth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Iran's battered military, the IRGC specifically, has been reduced to a gang of pirates with a flag. They cloak
their aggression in slogans, but the world now sees them for what they are, criminals on the high seas. They don't control anything.
They're acting like pirates, acting like terrorists. They're the ones who lay indiscriminate minds, who shoot at random ships, who killed 45,000 of
their own people, innocent protesters in the course of weeks, their own people. They are the bad actors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Hegseth speaking as sources say, Iran is sending delegation to Pakistan. The foreign minister will accompany the team. The sources also
say Pakistani mediators expect there will be a second round of talks at some point between the U.S. and Iran.
In the meantime, a third U.S. aircraft carrier has arrived in the Middle East, marking the highest number of aircraft carriers in the region in 20
years. Analysts believe this show of force could be an implicit message to Iran about the risks of renewed attacks if diplomacy fails.
Well, we are across all of this. We've got Zachary Cohen with us from Washington, Paula Hancocks with me here in Dubai -- in Abu Dhabi. And Nic
Robertson is in Islamabad, where mediators, as we understand it, Nic, are getting ready to receive an Iranian delegation.
Fill us in on what is happening, where you are on? What might be expected in the coming days?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, it's a small Iranian delegation. It's being led by Abbas Araghchi, the Foreign Minister
of Iran, and remembering he was the number two of the Iranian delegation that came here, much bigger delegation that came here two weeks ago and sat
down and had those direct face to face trilateral talks between the mediators Pakistan and Vice President JD Vance, Steve Witkoff, Jared
Kushner.
This is going to be something different to that. This is a bilateral meeting, or meetings with Pakistani officials by Iran's Foreign Minister.
He had a couple of phone calls earlier today with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, with the Field Marshal, most powerful man in the country, here in
Pakistan.
So, what we're hearing from Pakistani government, sources are that following Araghchi's meetings here with Pakistani officials. They expect
that this would lead to further face to face discussions between U.S. and Iranian officials. But nobody is sort of giving us a timeline of that
expectation.
You know whether Araghchi would stay here, and it seems unlikely he will, because it looks like he's got other destinations to head off to in the
short term.
[09:05:00]
So how quickly you could get back to those U.S.-Iranian face to face talks is unclear. But what this does signal is that diplomacy -- out certainly in
the public sphere, at least over the past couple of days, does have some life back in it, where it leads to, we don't know.
President Trump has said Iran has got a fractured leadership, and asked them to come up with a clear proposal. Is the Iranian Foreign Minister
bringing that in, or is he bringing a list of their own demands? Will there be a compromise? Can the U.S. and Iran get to the table again, not clear
yet.
ANDERSON: Let's bring in Zach. You're at the Pentagon briefing, or at least listening into the Pentagon briefing, which focused a lot on the U.S.
blockade and efforts to stop sanction ships. And CENTCOM posting about just how much fire power it now has in the region. What's the message here,
Zachary?
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah. Becky, I think first and foremost Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, that's really trying to assert
the idea that the U.S. military is the one that controls the Strait of Hormuz, and trying to paint the IRGC in the Iranians as the bad actor in
this conflict.
The one that is preventing shipping and oil tankers in the energy markets from thriving, and while there is some truth to both of those claims,
really in reality, though, Hegseth more trying to counter the narrative that has existed that it is Iran that effectively controls the flow of
traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which remains effectively shut down.
Even though some vessels have tried to both block pass through this U.S. blockade and have also been attacked by Iranian ships trying to transit the
strait itself. I think the other message we heard from Hegseth is that the U.S. military can project its power beyond just the Middle East in an
effort to -- assert pressure on the Iranians.
And that they're willing to do so for an unknown amount of time going forward, that really echoing the message we heard from President Donald
Trump, yesterday, that he's apparently not in any sort of a rush to reach a deal with the Iranians, and that he effectively is willing to wait them out
until they're willing to bend to his demands.
Now we'll have to wait and see whether or not the Iranians ultimately will blink first, Nic's great reporting about the potential for some sort of
movement on the diplomatic front does raise questions about what the Iranians may or may not be willing to compromise on the U.S. side, though,
really trying to signal that they are willing to continue this blockade and continue really trying to stop or apply pressure on Iran economically until
they meet them somewhere in the realm of a compromise.
ANDERSON: I want to bring Paula in at this point. You've been watching this, listening to our colleagues here, if the U.S. were to resume attacks.
And that's certainly the sort of there's a pressure gage out there. Isn't there? And that pressure is certainly building up with the introduction of
this third aircraft carrier in region, what might those attacks look like? What might the targets be?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we've been hearing from multiple sources in Washington that there are new plans being drawn up that
will point out new targets in the Strait of Hormuz. So, trying to narrow down what they could be focusing on, given what is happening on the ground
at the moment.
And of course, this is the fact that you have these small, these fast speed boats that the IRGC is able to terrorize the Strait of Hormuz with. And so,
what we hear from these multiple sources is part of these new plans would be focusing on how to target them, how to target the mine sweeping vessels
that that the Trump Administration say Iran has at the moment.
And also, they're looking at potentially, according to these sources, different individuals within the IRGC, or within the political sphere,
specifically those that are trying to obstruct any kind of deal. And of course, on top of that, you have the missiles, the launches that we heard
from Pete Hegseth just last week saying that they know that Iran is moving them to new locations to try and hide them, should this go back to a
military confrontation?
So that would be something that they would look to focus on as well.
ANDERSON: Nic, let me bring you back in here. I mean, there's much talk that there is a lack of sort of internal alignment in Tehran, a sort of
jockeying for power, if you will. What do you make of where we are at, at this point? We can, you know, perhaps it's more obvious what the U.S.
position is at this stage.
I mean, it's very visible what the U.S. sort of story is in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
[09:10:00]
We heard Hegseth as well today, taking Europe bashing to a new level in today's press conference. Let me just have a listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEGSETH: We are not counting on Europe, but they need the Strait of Hormuz much more than we do. And might want to start doing less talking and having
fewer fancy conferences in Europe and get in a boat. This is much more their fight than ours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: There is, at this point zero solidarity, it seems, between long standing allies during a time of war. I wonder how significant you think
that is, and if we step back just as we close this out. What are you thinking at this point?
ROBERTSON: Yeah, look, I think, to the point Pete Hegseth was making the Europeans feel that they are putting in place a plan that can be moved into
operation once there's a full permanent ceasefire. That's been their position from the get go. Their other position, of course, has been that
this is a war of choice by the United States, that has affected European interest more than the United States economic interest, certainly by what
we're hearing from U.S. officials and that, of course, rankles in Europe.
If the U.S. went into this knowing that Europe was going to be more affected, they would have liked to have been at the table before, which, of
course, they weren't. So, none of this does the relationship, transatlantic relationship, any good. Does it actually affect what's going on in terms of
trying to get a ceasefire, in terms of trying to end the blockades both blockades in the Strait of Hormuz probably doesn't play into that.
The diplomacy that we're seeing slowly, slowly, step out is part of that. And of course, the military side, from what the U.S. is bringing into the
region, the new aircraft carriers are very modern aircraft carrier. It can take the, you know, the most modern F-35 fighter jets, perhaps not the best
tool to fight the small, tiny boats that Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense calls pirate boats.
You know, that's the A-10, those slow flying A-10 Warthog aircraft that have big gatling guns, and they can just chug along at a slow speed and
pick off small targets that are moving at sort of half their speed in the water. So, the U.S. is bringing in armaments that would really help it if
the war really escalates.
It certainly has the armaments it mostly needs in the theater already to take on the sort of the challenge of the IRGC in these small fast boats.
It's diplomacy, obviously that's going to lead the way out of this. And I guess big picture stand back. Look is that neither side actually wants to
go to full on war again. Otherwise, they'd be there already, Becky.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you, Nic in Islamabad, Paula with me here in Abu Dhabi and Zachary in Washington. Thank you all. Well Israel's
Ambassador to the United Nations tells CNN that the extended ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is not a 100 percent.
President Trump announced the three-week extension after representatives from Israel and Lebanon met at the White House on Thursday. Israel's envoy
to the U.N. says he wonders if the Lebanese government is capable of enforcing the truce. Well, fighting continued even as the talks were held.
The IDF says it hit rocket launches Hezbollah military site. Hezbollah says it launched attacks at Israel. Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem. Oren, both
optimism and, to a degree, some skepticism over the situation the extension of this truce. What more are we hearing at this point?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: So, it was President Donald Trump who said the meeting between ambassadors in Washington, D.C., late
last night, local time, at least in his words went very well, and that there was a three-week extension of the ceasefire.
That means, all in all, it will be about a one-month ceasefire. And the goal here, from the White House's perspective, is essentially to try to
create room for more negotiations. They're still eyeing a more permanent ceasefire agreement and a broader peace between Israel and Lebanon, two
countries that have had no diplomatic relations for decades.
The challenge here is, although the ceasefires between Israel and Lebanon. The war had been and continues to be between Israel and Iran's proxy in
Lebanon, Hezbollah, and they're not a party to this agreement. Whether they do or do not fire depend on, first, how they see Israel's actions, and then
second, what's in Iran's interests.
In fact, it was the Lebanese government who accused Hezbollah of dragging Lebanon, I'm sorry, it was Lebanon's government who accused Hezbollah of
dragging Lebanon into the war at the behest of Iran. And that gives you a sense of how difficult the diplomacy is here.
This isn't an agreement that could be hammered out in just a couple of meetings, but it seems that's what the Trump Administration is trying to
pull off here so they can expand the Abraham Accords, the agreement that saw Israel normalize with other countries in the region.
[09:15:00]
That's an incredibly tall order here. Trump also said, Becky, that the U.S. would help Lebanon protect itself from Hezbollah. But it's unclear what
exactly that means. Israel is learning firsthand how difficult it is to destroy Hezbollah, even after waves of attacks strikes and some two years
of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Becky.
ANDERSON: Oren, good to have you. Thank you. Well ahead on "Connect the World", as Ukraine's Wartime President shows his gratitude to the European
Union. We will take a look at how Kyiv plans to use a new very hefty cash lifeline on the battlefield.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Ukraine getting a financial lifeline to help it keep fighting Russia's aggression. On Thursday, the European Union approved a more than
$100 billion deal. It's a loan. Hungary and Slovakia had opposed the loan for months because they stopped receiving Russian oil that flows through a
pipeline in Ukraine, but they dropped their opposition now that the oil imports have resumed.
Well, it's predicted that the loan will help Ukraine meet its economic military needs for two years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: Today is a good day for Ukraine and for Europe. You might recall Volodymyr that when I visited
in February this year, I said that we will deliver on the 90-billion-euro loan one way or the other. And today we deliver on this promise.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: Together, we will solve many issues of protecting lives. And of course, we will keep working to push
Russia to real diplomacy to end this war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, meanwhile, in the war, it appears military robots are replacing humans and heading into battle. CNN's Melissa Bell reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to the future of warfare. A bird's eye view of two robots and then their
own as they zip through a snowy field in Kharkiv region, evading enemy fire and making it to their goal, a Russian infantry position under a damaged
tank.
Russia may have more men in this four-year war, but Ukraine believes that its robots can help make a difference. Like here, one blows up part of a
building, allowing a second to destroy a basement in which soldiers were hiding more losses for Russia, and again, zero for Ukraine, a crucial
arithmetic as Kyiv battles Moscow's superior numbers.
ZELENSKYY: The future is already here, already on the battlefield, and Ukraine is creating it.
[09:20:00]
BELL (voice-over): That was here, also in the region of Kharkiv, when a unit of robots did the work of soldiers with no blood spilt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That unit took over the dugouts tree line in just 15 minutes, the entire strip was already hours, literally and without any
losses. Not a single shot was fired.
BELL (voice-over): The robots even managed to take prisoners that day, a first in Ukraine's war. President Zelenskyy says that 10,000 missions have
now been carried out by robots.
ZELENSKYY: We have to stop altogether Putin, and we can stop it with weapon, because he doesn't want to speak.
BELL (voice-over): But Ukraine's military technology, which includes its sea and fiber optic drones, is not just its pride. President Zelenskyy says
it's also bringing in money, now that Kyiv is helping Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar with their air defenses against Iranian
drones.
We're witness to a global robotic arms race today. The United States, Europe, Russia and China are all developing robot systems and tactics, but
the pressures on its front lines have given Ukraine an advantage in figuring out what war might look like with more robots and less blood.
Melissa Bell, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now. And a former police officer who allegedly
threatened to carry out a mass shooting of black people in New Orleans has been arrested. Christopher Gillum was taken into custody in Florida a
handgun and 200 rounds of ammunition were also found in his hotel room.
Law enforcement across three states worked together to track Gillum. Well emergency workers are battling storms and high winds as they respond to a
powerful tornado that ripped through the City of Enid, Oklahoma, late on Thursday, the twister injured nearly a dozen people, overturned vehicles
and left widespread damage in its wake.
More than 15 other tornadoes were reported across Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa. Extreme drought is fueling dozens of wildfires across the U.S. State
of Georgia, and this is the aftermath of one of them. Officials say roughly 36,000 acres have burned over the past 30 days, prompting the governor to
declare a state of emergency in 91 counties.
All right, we are going to take a break. After that how markets are reacting to developments here in the Middle East. The opening bell of the
New York Stock Exchange is up right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:25:00]
ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. Time here 24 minutes past five. You're watching "Connect the World". Well, these are
your headlines. Sources tell CNN, Iran is sending a small delegation to Pakistan for talks with Pakistani officials. Iranian Foreign Minister will
be part of that team.
Sources also say Pakistani mediators expect there will be at some point a second round of talks between the U.S. and Iran. Well President Trump has
announced a three-week extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah after representatives from Israel and Lebanon met at the White
House.
However, strikes between Israel and the Iran backed Hezbollah based in Lebanon, continued even as talks were held. Israel's Ambassador to the U.N.
tells CNN he has his doubts over the extended deal. Well, the U.S. military says a third aircraft carrier has arrived in the Middle East.
Analysts say that is the highest number of aircraft carriers deployed to this region in more than 20 years, may be intended to send a message to
Iran about the possibility of renewed attacks if diplomacy fails. A breakthrough for Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his fight
against Russia.
The EU has unblocked desperately needed aid in an effort to help Kyiv gain ground on the battlefield. The money had been held up by Hungary when it
dropped its opposition to the more than $100 billion loan. Well, social media giant Meta has said it will cut 10 percent of staff as it pours
billions of dollars into AI related investments.
The company is also closing around 6000 open roles, according to an internal memo published by Bloomberg. The layoff set to affect about 8000
employees will go into effect on May the 20th that is the latest string of tech industry layoffs as firms focus on AI fueled efficiency.
And it's not just tech firms hedging their bets on AI. The UAE where I am launching a new government model, so that in just two years, half of all
government sectors, services and operations will run on agentic AI. It says this will make the UAE the first country to operate at this scale using
autonomous systems.
Posting on X, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid said every federal employee will be trained to master the technology. Well, for more on how AI is shaping
governments in the workplace, I'm joined now by Antonio Fatas who is Professor of Economics at INSEAD. And professor thank you for joining us.
As we look at these moves by the UAE government and consider the repositioning by Meta and Microsoft as far as their staff are concerned,
their investments into tech and perhaps away from staff. How do you see this transition into an AI driven world unfolding? I mean, it's not like
everyone is embracing it, like the UAE is at this point, right?
ANTONIO FATAS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AT INSEAD: Yeah. I mean, I don't think everyone is embracing it as much, but there's no doubt that this is a
technology that is touching in many sectors in many countries. And we're going to see more of this news as we go through.
I think the problem is we need to separate the noise of something that we still don't understand quite well. We don't understand what the technology
is going to do for us, what a genetic AI will do, how safe it will be. And some of the hard data that we start seeing like again, when you see like 10
percent of the workforce of Meta being laid off again.
It just sends a signal that maybe something is real and it's happening. And I think that separation is what is difficult. I think there's still a lot
of noise and some of these headlines. I think that a little bit too much relative to what the technology can deliver, but there's no doubt that
we're going to see more of that and what the future will bring.
I think we're going to have to see how far it takes us and how sort of disruptive it is in the labor market, in productivity, in governments, et
cetera.
ANDERSON: Yeah, and I think that you're making a really good point, because AI is here to stay, but for enterprises to find solutions, and for these
big tech companies to really scale the opportunity, we need to look at, you know, beyond sort of, you know, the likes of you and me using ChatGPT, for
example.
Or, dare I say, you know, something more sophisticated in Claude and a better prompt. I mean, it's the drive is going to need to be very sort of
focused at this point in order, because out there, we still do assume for there to be companies that will fail. There's still talk of AI bubbles. So
where do you fall on that?
[09:30:00]
FATAS: I mean, I think on one hand, I see a technology as being a positive technology. We see some science that productivity growth is accelerating in
certain sectors in certain countries. I think that's a positive view, and it sort of reminds me of the days of the internet.
I think on that side, there is a parallel which I think is very positive. At the same time, I think this technology is more complex and understanding
sort of the effects that it will have both positive or negative. I think it's still to be seen. I think there's a little bit of a contradiction
between those who think this technology is truly magical, very disruptive.
And they didn't understand that, if that's the case, that disruption is really going to hurt us both from a social and economic point of view. So,
if the technology is so good, maybe the labor market will truly suffer, and maybe the economy will suffer as well, and that means that the investments
that are being done today maybe are not going to pay off as well as people think, because the economy might not be in the right place.
So I think we need to find a balance between that optimism which is justified, and what we see in some places, for example, in the stock
market, on the market in general, which I think are running a little bit too fast for my taste, because if the technology is so good, then I'm
really going to be worried a lot about the disruption.
ANDERSON: It's fascinating, isn't it? We're looking at the Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, Nvidia prices as we just heard the opening bell on Wall Street.
Meta and Alphabet down marginally today against with the DOW, it has to be said, Microsoft and Nvidia just trading high there reflecting what is going
on in the NASDAQ and the S&P today, these markets are pretty mixed, it has to be said.
Can we just transition to the oil price and its impact, of course, on the global economy at this point? No end in sight for the conflict that we are
seeing in this region, in the Strait of Hormuz. So where do you -- I mean, and in light the conversation that we've just been having, where we've been
talking about, AI and, you know, what happens next for these big tech companies. Where do you see the picture currently?
FATAS: I mean, I see the conflict is lasting a lot longer than what some had thought. Of course, it can last a lot longer. The disruption in oil
markets is still there, and it's quite substantial, even if there is some flexibility, and we see sort of other source of oil coming into the market.
I'm a little bit worried that, partly because of what is happening in AI, I think these two things are connected. I think we're all looking for an
excuse to say this is not going to be so bad. Let's just continue going. We're going to find a solution. We're going to find a deal. Oil will flow
again, and we will not see that disruption.
If I talk to people in the oil market, I think they tend to be a lot more pessimistic than the rest of us, and that worries me a little bit, because
we saw it during COVID. Things like supply chains are not easy to bring back to normal. And I think we have a similar situation here.
It's not just the volume of oil. Is the disruption that has happened, I think is going to take us for it right for a while, even if a deal was
reached today. And then the big question that we all have is, will it reach? We a deal be reached today?
ANDERSON: Right.
FATAS: Is it going to take another week, another set of weeks, or several months. If you push me in that direction, then I do become really worried
about the state of the global economy.
ANDERSON: All right. Well, it's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. And just as we close this out, I do want to focus on the impact of
this war on the aviation industry. My colleague Richard Quest has spoken with the CEO of Emirates Airline. Have a listen to part of their
conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIM CLARK, PRESIDENT OF EMIRATES AIRLINE: Our planes are pretty full. Surprisingly, your audience may be surprised to hear that. And importantly,
the flows across the hub continue to grow by the day.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: As you look forward now, the issue is fuel. The issue is, I mean, we -- you know, IEA says that Europe's got six weeks left
to be about five weeks since they gave that warning of aviation fuel left. How worried are you, you will run out of fuel?
CLARK: Frankly, we're not that concerned. We have adequate supplies over here. We see we produce and refine our own Jet A-1. We know, with the
effect of the closure of the strait, that 40 percent, well actually 40 percent of European Jet A-1 is imported, but only 50 percent of that, say
20 percentage points, comes through the strait.
[09:35:00]
So, I think this is more a question of -- in the long term, if this continues, there could be an issue more about the price of the interplaying
price of fuel and that milk will then -- against possible demand growth in the future, we'll see. What we have found is that whenever we've been
through these traumas before, the strength of demand is so strong.
The yields that we're currently getting are still about 30, 40 percent would you believe because we got a class mix issue lower than they were
this time last year? We know that the demand will take price increases surprisingly. Others in other segments, particularly in the budget carrier
area, are more price sensitive, and they're probably getting a little bit concerned about what it may do if the fuel goes to $140 or something like
that.
QUEST: Where do you see it going, Tim? I mean, I know it's how long is a piece of string, but where do you see the power?
CLARK: If this gets resolved and the straits hope over you will -- you have to deal with a month or two supply disruption, but I honestly believe that
this will be dealt with the global economy is enormously adaptable, and it has been through multiple traumas before. It's always come through very
easy.
So, you will get production supply increases. You will get OPEC adjusting what they were doing. The refineries are more of a problem because the
crack spreads are quite high at the moment, but it's a question whether the refineries can get themselves into a position where the staff can produce
these kinds of fuel elements, kerosene, Jet A-1, et cetera, the lower end of the spread of the -- process.
But in the end, I believe that we will get things going again. If this happens, if this goes away next couple of weeks, let's just say then I'm
very optimistic about one. You have a bow way of demand, just as we had in COVID, which has to be dealt with. And then you've got the normal demand
out of the primary markets over the summer period in the northern hemisphere and winter down in the southern hemisphere.
So, if this is not prolonged, then I remain optimistic that we can deal with this over the next two to four weeks without too many problems.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Incredibly important interview there, Richard Quest's discussion with the Emirates Airline CEO. And we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Right. Let me get you a look at how stocks are getting on Wall Street nine odd minutes into the trading day. And frankly, it's a pretty
mixed picture out there. It does seem as if there's a lack of appetite to really, sort of, you know, either jump in or out of these markets at this
point.
Let's remember these are at record highs. So, this is not to suggest that there isn't an appetite, sort of overall, to stick with stocks at this
point. But you know, given that there is no resolution at present, what is going on in the Strait of Hormuz or indeed, the sort of wider U.S., Iran
situation.
[09:40:00]
We do know that the Iranians are sending a small delegation to Pakistan, but that seems to be a sort of bilateral moment. And we have not yet got
confirmation that a second round of U.S., Iran talks will happen at this point, although expectations are that we will see that.
And this is the picture, as far as the oil markets are concerned, again, you know, really sort of lacking direction. If I were to suggest that
people were sort of, you know, sitting this one out for the time being, a very mixed picture out there as investors and traders really look for some
direction, likely, sort of sitting waiting for social media posts these days from either the U.S. President or those working the levers of power in
Tehran.
Well before we leave the economic sphere, I do want to tell you about a fascinating betting story that we are following here on CNN. A U.S. Special
Forces soldier involved in capturing the Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, is now facing federal charges. Why?
Well, he is suspected of using classified information from that mission to make wages on the prediction site poly market. Prosecutors say his long
shot bets netted $400,000 in payouts, nearly half a million dollars. Well, CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson will join me next hour to unpack the
implications of this case and whether laws can even keep up with what is the meteoric rise of these prediction markets.
And we want to mention CNN has a partnership with Kalshi one of the main prediction market sites, which provides data for some of our stories. Well,
we are now less than 50 days from the beginning of what is widely considered the world's biggest sporting event.
The FIFA World Cup, kicking off on June the 11th, hosted, of course, by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The last U.S. World Cup was in 1994. FIFA's
President says ticket demand is off the charts, the equivalent of the request for 1000 years of World Cups at once, he said.
But there's been an awful lot of controversy over the very high-ticket prices. And CNN "World Sport" is up next with all of that latest and
football action for you, as well as coverage of the NFL Draft. All that is after the break. I'm back in 15 minutes with more news. Stay with us.
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(WORLD SPORT)
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