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Connect the World

Iran's Foreign Minister Meets Chinese Counterpart in Beijing; Von Der Leyen Invites Canada to Be EU's First Associate Member; Tech Leaders Diverge on How to Reduce Risk as AI Advances; OpenAI's Altman "Confident" AI Development Can Be Done Safely; Dubai Tourism CEO Assures International Travelers of City's Safety. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired September 16, 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: It is 09:00 a.m. in Washington D.C. where there is a growing sense of urgency on Capitol Hill around the

need to address concerns over AI. It is 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. From our Middle East Broadcasting Headquarters, I'm Becky Anderson.

You're watching "Connect the World". Also coming up, Iran's Foreign Minister is in China, where he is expected to discuss the ongoing conflict

in the Middle East. And amid President Trump's trade fight with Canada, the President of the European Union calls for closer trade relations with

America's neighbor to the north.

We are just about 30 minutes away from the start of trading on Wall Street. This is the picture on the futures market. Expect, if this is any

indication, a better start to the trading day this Wednesday. Well, we begin with Tehran's critical charm offensive in Beijing. Iran's Foreign

Minister meeting today with his Chinese counterpart.

It is all smiles and handshakes between Iran's Abbas Araghchi and China's Wang Yi. Iranian state media report the two are expected to discuss key

regional and international issues as they describe them. Araghchi recently described China is Iran's leading economic partner.

It is worth noting. Today's meeting comes just days after plans fell through for Iran, Oman, and other Gulf countries to discuss a solution on

the Strait of Hormuz. Well, CNN's Nada Bashir joining us now. This is the Iranian Foreign Minister's second visit to the Chinese capital since the

war with Iran began.

Nada, it comes ahead of a planned meeting, of course, between the U.S. President Donald Trump and the Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington

later this month. What's the messaging from Tehran, and what is Araghchi hoping to achieve?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we have seen Tehran struggling to rally support in the Gulf region, as you mentioned, Becky, those talks

that had been planned for Monday for Iran to meet with its Gulf nation counterparts, Iranian officials, there fell through and postponed.

And now it seems Iran trying to bolster that relationship that it has long shared with China and the Chinese government, of course, China continues to

be the leading buy of Iranian crude oil and has long been diplomatically aligned to Iran. And of course, Iran has been trying to strengthen its

relationships with its allies outside of the Middle East region as this war continues to drag on.

But of course, there are questions as to what China's role is to play in any sort of mediation effort. The Chinese government has previously

positioned itself as a neutral mediator, potentially party to this conflict, that it is not taking sides despite being so diplomatically

aligned to Iran, and of course being economically exposed to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and particularly in Iran.

But again, there are those stuttering efforts that we are seeing more regionally to try to bring about some sort of mediation efforts,

particularly, of course, when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz. Now, as we understand it, as you mentioned, Becky, the Iranian officials and Iranian

state media believe and say that Iran will be focusing on strengthening those bilateral ties and, of course, those regional issues.

But there haven't been any clear outlines as to the framework of today's discussions between the two diplomats. What we are expecting to see, of

course, more regionally as well, is potentially, according to Iranian officials, attempts to reschedule talks separately with Gulf nations and

with regional allies.

Now, this also comes after a talk between Omani officials and the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Again, focus on those mediation efforts

that we have seen stopping and starting for months now. The U.S. has acknowledged Oman's key role in mediation efforts.

And it is likely that the U.S. will continue to focus on those Gulf nations and key allies in the Gulf to really steer that mediation, and negotiation

efforts as they continue. And of course, the real question is whether the needle can be moved somewhat on the Strait of Hormuz.

[09:05:00]

Iranian officials continue to stand by their conditions and key outlines, going back to that initial memorandum of understanding, whether that will

see any movement, of course, remains to be seen. Iran had hoped that the talks on Monday would be an opportunity, in their eyes, to establish some

sort of agreement between regional leaders, without, in the words of Iranian leader's foreign interference.

But clearly, they are now leaning on allies further afield. Clearly leaning and focusing towards China.

ANDERSON: Got it. All right. Good to have you. Thank you. At least 20 people, including several children, have died after a war-damaged

residential building collapsed in the Al-Sinaa area in Gaza City. Dozens more are feared to be trapped under the rubble. Search and rescue efforts

now underway, according to civil defense there.

They said that the building was hit by Israeli air strikes at the beginning of the war in Gaza, following the October the seventh attacks in 2023. The

Hamas-run government media office warns that thousands of other structurally damaged buildings are at risk of collapse across the Strip.

European President, European Commission President, pushing for closer ties with Canada, and says she wants to make the North American country, the

bloc's first quote, associate member. Well, the two sides already share a sizeable trading relationship, and Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney is

in Strasbourg this hour.

Ursula von der Leyen's proposal comes as Canada remains locked in this trade dispute with the U.S. its largest trading partner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT OF EUROPEAN COMMISSION: This is not a partnership against anyone else, but for our common strength. In short, we

want to bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible. And, dear Mark, I said we must urgently reimagine our partnerships.

So, I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to being the first associate member of the European Union.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Our Senior Business Reporter Hanna Ziady joining me now. What exactly would associate membership mean for Canada, Hanna? And how

significant would this new relationship with the EU be?

HANNA ZIADY, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS REPORTER: Well, I think you know we should say off the bat that associate membership doesn't exist. There's no EU

precedent or framework for it. So, Becky, in many ways, more questions than answers at this point.

Clearly, the two sides looking for a closer alliance. And in her speech, Von der Leyen highlighted that they would cooperate on areas including

technology, AI, critical minerals, energy, batteries, also defense. She spoke about integrating their defense industrial bases, so presumably

talking about production there.

And as you highlighted, they do already share a sizeable trading relationship. They in fact already have a trade deal in place, bilateral

trade in goods and services between the two totaling 150 billion dollars last year. They want to get even closer. The EU is Canada's second largest

trading partner. Unclear exactly how they will do that.

ANDERSON: Hanna is in London on this. Thank you very much indeed. More on that, of course, as we get it as Hanna rightly points out, more questions

than answers to a degree. It's a good story, though. Well, to the global debate over AI now, after a string of warnings about potential doomsday

scenarios.

We're seeing opposing ideas within the top ranks of the tech industry, at least over what should be done about it. Here is OpenAI's Sam Altman

sounding a bit more optimistic after acknowledging there are serious risks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAM ALTMAN, CEO OF OPENAI: I am very confident in our company's ability, our industry's ability to do this safely, to make sure that we keep

alignment and safety and monitoring way ahead of capabilities to slow down or stop if we get to a point where we can't. But I'm disappointed by how

it's been framed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, CNN AI Correspondent Hadas Gold is in Montreal, in Canada, where a major AI conference is getting under way today. So, thank you for

your time, Hadas. You have new reporting on how AI engineers and those at the forefront of creating this and let's call it super powerful technology

in the country.

A feeling about the impact as this conversation about AI regulation, AI safety continues. What are you hearing from them?

HADAS GOLD, CNN AI CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so I spent the past few days reaching out to a bunch of contacts across the AI industry, mostly the

people who are actually building this technology, the researchers, the engineers, to ask them about this recent sort of floodgate that had been

opened by Jacob Cox, and the Former Anthropic Researcher who resigned, and these concerns about where AI is going and how it could hurt humanity.

[09:10:00]

And what I found, which is something that I think a lot of us in the industry knew, is that these concerns are nothing new. And a lot of

engineers and researchers had been concerned about AI's capabilities for some time, but things changed in the last few months, especially in the

wake of incidents like the Hugging Face hack, where OpenAI agents created a swarm of 1000, more than 1000 agents communicated with each other,

coordinated with each other to hack into a completely different company's servers, none of which was directed by human.

That was the AI's interpretation of what they needed to do to ace a cybersecurity exam. AI scientists told me that these concerns keep them up

at night, that they are so worried about this, and that this is a constant topic of conversation in the AI world. One thing that they are particularly

concerned about is what's called recursive self-improvement.

That is where the AI models will be capable of improving themselves. Just like how you or I can, you know, go study and make ourselves better at

something and go to the gym. Right now, an AI model isn't quite there yet, and they still need human intervention to help them learn.

But these engineers say that it's only a matter of time before these AIs will be able to make themselves better, smarter, faster. And the concern is

that it will get to the point where it'll be so fast and so good that humans just aren't able to monitor and intervene and have any sort of

control over it.

And the other thing of why that matters, recursive self-improvement, because right now these AI scientists who are very outspoken, most

industries you wouldn't dare to be posting things on social media like all of these AI scientists are doing. They have leverage because of the talent

war in the AI industry.

The AI researchers and scientists they are getting paid a lot of money. There's a huge back and forth of you know AI talent and who's going where?

There's a small pool of people to choose for. These companies really value their talent, and they want to keep them.

They want to keep them happy. So right now, they have leverage. They are putting pressure on their executives to do something. You know, not only

about safety, but to speak out on what they're doing to keep things as safe as possible and to build in some guardrails.

And the concern is that AI -- as AI is able to fix itself, you won't need as many of these AI scientists and engineers and researchers, and they will

lose their leverage. And one thing that really also stood out to me about speaking to these engineers and hearing their comments is, for a lot of

them, this is not about money.

This is not about their own personal wealth. They are in this for real moral and ethical reasons. And some of them are really struggling with:

should they stay inside these companies and try to fix it from the inside, or should they do what Jacob Coxon did and what some others have done,

leave in a public manner and try to pressure things from the outside, Becky.

ANDERSON: More as we get it, of course. Thank you very much indeed. All right, you are watching "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson from our

Middle East programming headquarters. Still to come this evening, my conversation with a leading figure in the tourism industry in Dubai.

The leading figure, in fact, the CEO of Dubai Tourism admits they are facing some obvious headwinds amid geopolitical instability, but the

outlook he says is still bullish. Here, why up next. And four years and later, four years after Mahsa Amini was detained for allegedly violating

Iran's hijab law, the defiance she helped spark is still playing out on the streets.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

ANDERSON: This week on "Connect the World", we are speaking to stakeholders here in the Gulf about one of the key economic drivers that has been

disrupted by the regional conflict, and that is tourism. There's perhaps no greater bell weather than Dubai.

The city went from a record nearly 20 million tourists in 2025 to a sharp downturn when the Iran war landed at its doorstep. But it is slowly

recovering. New numbers from Dubai tourism show the highest visit account since the outset of the conflict. Hotel occupancy reaching 66 percent in

August, almost on target with last year's numbers, and a sharp uptick from 36 percent occupancy back in March.

All the while, Dubai has put nearly 700 million dollars into supporting the city's entire tourism ecosystem. When I spoke with the Head of Dubai

Tourism, Issam Kazim, to unpack what those numbers mean for the all- important question here. When will international travelers be back in full swing?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISSAM KAZIM, CEO OF DUBAI CORPORATION FOR TOURISM AND COMMERCE MARKETING: Any time the travel advisories are lifted, immediately you'll see the

international carriers announce that they're going to come back to Dubai because they know the importance of Dubai for them, as a business as well

as connectivity point as well, right?

So, I think that in itself serves as a purpose to really outline the important role that Dubai plays, whether it's for travel tourism, for

business tourism, or just as a connecting point. But unfortunately, with the changes of the climate and announcements, they need to also pull back

again, and which is understandable, right?

Because you have travel advisors that dictate that, which then is linked into the insurance that dictates that as well, which then has a domino

effect on everything else as well. But again, as of recently, when things are progressing in the right direction, conversations are going in the

right direction.

You can see that again. Many of the international carriers have already announced that they will be back within the next few days, and I think

that's an exciting moment for us. So, literally, what we're doing is, as I've always said, the agility is extremely important for us.

We have our campaigns that we're constantly tweaking and making it prepared and ready for as and when the markets open up, and which markets open up

that we can activate.

ANDERSON: I spoke to the CEO of Dubai Airports right at the beginning of this instability. It was back in March, and at the time, he told me it was

sort of incumbent on governments around the world to really help their airlines out to get back in the air and back into the region.

What is your message to those governments who are still preventing or discouraging international airlines from flying to Dubai?

KAZIM: I think, look, I mean, there's nothing better than seeing it for yourself. And I think if you look at the travel trade today, what we did

from our own perspective, we have about 300 plus hosted buyers from all over the world who are visiting Dubai. And by design, we made sure about 30

percent of them are first-time visitors to Dubai.

And immediately you could sense that there was a sense of positivity from them the minute that they landed, the way that they walked through the

airports, through the biometrics and stuff like that, and they experienced Dubai like they've never seen any other destination before.

And then they started to realize that what they assumed or the misconception that they had over there is actually very, very different

when they landed onto on the ground. And that's what I expect from the governments as well. If they listen to their consulates, to the embassies

who are located here, listen to them genuinely and understand exactly what Dubai is like on the ground.

The UAE is like on the ground. How safe? How secure? It's no different than it was even prior to the crisis. And I think only then will they realize

that this extra precaution that they're taking is not necessary, to be honest.

ANDERSON: Can I ask just how significant has the financial impact been of the past six months? There is a sense of positivity here. We are certainly

not yet back to pre-war levels. How big an impact?

[09:20:00]

And I wonder if you put some figures on this for me. Has his past six months had on the tourism sector, and how is the government here providing

support for the sector?

KAZIM: It's safe to say that yes, I mean it's an unprecedented time for us, right? COVID was a little different because during COVID the whole world

was impacted. Today you're talking about business travelers and tourists who have other options to go elsewhere, right?

And I think that has a serious impact because during certain periods of time, where would have been a peak period for us, because when we got

impacted by this was during the months of March and April as well. Let's say, right? When it comes to May, June, July, it's a bit of a slower down,

but we missed two, I would say, key months for us in terms of bookings, reservations, and overall business.

Now, what we did was we activated the domestic market to be able to kind of cover that gap, but it's still not replaceable, right? So, if you look at

it from a room nights perspective, you will see that we have about 21.6 million room nights so far up until August, which puts us within the top 10

globally in terms of how many -- how the hotels are being operated, which is great.

But if you look at it from an ADR perspective, obviously it's not what the hotels are used to, right? Because the margins were much bigger back then.

So, we are yes in a way maybe around 60 odd percent of the same period of time from the previous year, but again, that was a record year for us.

But the good thing for us, I think, it landed in a time where summer would have been anyway a slower period of time for us as well. Now, how quickly

we bounce back from this will also determine how well we can recover from this as well. But I think it's important to note that in terms of the

maturity of the market, we understand that yes, there is an impact, an economic impact that the economy has seen from a travel tourism

perspective.

But how do we recover from this? Is how we join forces together again. It's about making sure that whatever decisions we make, it's actually for the

long term, not a short-term thing.

ANDERSON: Were you hurt by some of the genuinely hurt by some of the, or the speed of some of the sort of anti-Dubai rhetoric out there.

KAZIM: I think, look, to be honest with you, I -- in some instances I wasn't surprised because we've always had our fair share of headlines over

the past few years, and I think we've learned to live with that, and that's normal. And I think, and I always tell the team, the minute they stop

talking about us, that's when we worry, right?

If they're talking about you, means you're doing something good, that you're still relevant, right? And I think, and I genuinely believe that.

But at the same time, if I'm honest with you, in other instances, it also made me realize that just because we're aware of what's happening in Dubai,

we cannot assume that the others have the real picture as well.

So, it is on us to ensure that we're conveying that message as much as possible, to make sure that they have the real, true picture of what's

happening. And we also have to be honest about things that are working, things that are not working, and be absolutely transparent.

ANDERSON: You know, what will the new Dubai story be post this regional instability?

KAZIM: I think the story would be from -- if I look at it from the positive side, is that people realize the safety, security conversation that we used

to have about Dubai, which was about leaving your phone on the table and not worrying about it, or leaving your handbag and walking away and coming

back and still finding it there, was one thing.

And it's great to see that you know that still is there, and that is one of the biggest selling points of Dubai. But today, I think safety and security

means something much bigger than that. And I think the way that people came back post school break, and you see the traffic is back.

You see Dubai is buzzing again. It shows you that safety and security means so much more today for people because of the way the UAE, the government of

the UAE stood by every single one of the residents to ensure that their safety is --

ANDERSON: Counterintuitively, it needed to be tested, like really tested.

KAZIM: You are right.

ANDERSON: To prove that this is a safe and secure country to be in.

KAZIM: Yeah.

ANDERSON: You are forecasting a steady recovery and growth into this last quarter and beyond. What are your biggest challenges at this point?

KAZIM: The biggest challenge for me would be how quickly I would say from government to government, because that's where that level of conversation

needs to happen, is how we can move things down the travel advisory side of things.

ANDERSON: You want the international traveler back?

KAZIM: 100 percent because at the end of the day, Emirates Airlines fly Dubai, have then their fair share and more. But now it's about making sure

that a we're getting as many of the tourists who are still searching for Dubai. We can see data shows us that search for Dubai is still as high as

it has ever been.

So, there is that interest. But how do we get them in? And we need more international --

ANDERSON: And without them, what's the prospect here -- quite clear?

KAZIM: See, the prospect will be that we will still continue to grow, yes, but the growth will be hampered by the capacity at the end of the day, we

have to be honest about that.

[09:25:00]

And for me, the capacity right now is, I would say, maybe 55 percent or so of the overall opportunity that exists, because if we don't plug it in with

the international carriers, we will always have that gap in the window.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Issam Kazim, the CEO of Dubai Tourism, speaking to me at the ATM, the Arabian Travel Market here in Dubai, in the UAE, or in Dubai, not here,

because I'm in Abu Dhabi this week. All right, let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now.

It's been four years since Mahsa Amini died in police custody after being detained over Iran's mandatory hijab law, sparking protests, mass protests

across the country. And today, that defiance is still happening on the street, small women are going out without head scarfs.

Even as social media videos show hardliners increasingly cracking down on how they dress. Well, a news reporter and pilot among three dead after a

helicopter crashed in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The team were covering a fatal bus collision at the time, according to police, the third person to

die was a pedestrian.

At least two others were injured and are in hospital. An investigation is under way to determine the cause of that crash. Poland reinforcing security

along its border with Ukraine after recent Russian drone strikes near border crossings. Poland's Defense Minister says the decision comes as

Russia's actions, quote, threaten the security of all of Europe.

Up next here on the show, the start of trading on Wall Street. We will check in on how these markets are doing, what they're doing, and why, after

this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Right, welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Dubai. You are watching "Connect the World". Well, these are your headlines, diplomacy

front and center today in Beijing. Iran's Foreign Minister meeting with his Chinese counterpart Abbas Araghchi recently described China as Tehran's

leading economic partner.

He's back in Beijing not long before China's President heads to Washington this month for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. OpenAI CEO Sam

Altman says he is confident artificial intelligence can be developed safely without significant harm to humans, that reassurance coming after Altman

acknowledged that there are serious risks, backing a proposal to have independent watchdogs at AI companies.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wants to make Canada the bloc's first associate member.

[09:30:00]

She made the offer earlier today, to Prime Minister Mark Carney, as Canada faces escalating trade tensions, of course, with the United States, the EU

and Canada want closer ties on defense, AI, technology, and on critical minerals. OK, let's get you to the open bell on Wall Street and doing the

honors today.

These guys, the team from James Hardie, there. Right, they are ringing in the trading day this Wednesday. And we were expecting to see a slightly

higher open on Wall Street. The Dow Jones certainly reflecting that, albeit very slightly, not quite the indications that we had out of the futures

markets.

We'll wait to see what the other two major U.S. indices, the NASDAQ and the S&P, are up to momentarily. Well, all of Ed Sheeran's opening acts have now

quit his international tour in solidarity with the rapper Macklemore, who was dropped from the tour for making comments on stage in support of

Palestine.

Billionaire Robert Kraft barred Macklemore from performing at his stadium in New Jersey. And Sheeran said tour venues would pull their shows if the

wrap up was still opening. Well, Sheeran insists the decision to remove Macklemore was made by the promoter and not by him.

Well, CNN's Lisa France following this closely. Joining me now live. Good to have you. What can you tell us about the artists who quit? What their

message has been, and about Ed Sheeran's response?

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Becky, the people who quit included Finneas, who is a producer but also well known as being Billie

Eilish's brother. There's the Irish acts Aaron Rowe, who is a singer- songwriter, Irish singer-songwriter, and then the Irish group Beoga, and then you had Lukas Graham, which is a Danish band.

And they have all spoken out in solidarity -- with Macklemore, and they actually, you know, feel very strongly about the fact that, as Finneas

said, that artists should not be silenced. That Macklemore should have the right to speak up and say what he wants to say. And Aaron Rowe, he actually

spoke out both to him and the Irish man Beoga.

They spoke out and tied it to them being Irish. And Aaron Rowe said that as Irish people, they're very familiar, unfortunately, with famine and with

genocide, and so they felt very strongly that they needed to speak up. And Aaron Rowe said, you know, he can't stand by.

Basically, as a billionaire, he felt like silence people who should be able to speak up against what they view as a very serious genocide. Now, for his

part, Ed Sheeran stayed pretty apolitical in his statement. You know, as you pointed out, he has placed most of the blame on the promoters.

But he also expressed that just because he is silent about his beliefs doesn't mean that he doesn't feel strongly that he doesn't have an opinion.

He didn't venture what that opinion was, but he wanted to make it clear to his audience, Becky, and to his fans that just because he's not speaking

out like everyone else.

It doesn't mean that he doesn't care, and it doesn't mean that he doesn't have opinions about these things. But Becky, it seems like he just isn't

comfortable enough to share exactly what those opinions are, but he wants it to be known that he is not blind to what is going on in the world,

Becky.

ANDERSON: I mean, he's always said that he doesn't get involved in politics. He's always been this is part of his kind of you know MO as being

this sort of neutral guy staying away from politics.

FRANCE: Yeah.

ANDERSON: This is a tough one. Just out of interest, what's the sort of you know the wider sort of musk community saying about this?

What's you know what's been the kind of wider response? You talk to a lot of people in the industry. What's your sense of how this is all going down?

FRANCE: You know, the wider response is that people feel sometimes between a rock and a hard place, right? Because they want to share their art, they

want to make their fans happy, but at the same time, they know that picking a side on anything politically is going to anger someone, right?

But there are many people who feel so strongly about what is happening in Gaza that they feel like it is not possible to be silent, especially if

people are calling on you to make a statement. So, it just depends on how you know each individual artist, be them a singer or an actor, how secure

they feel in speaking out.

[09:35:00]

You know, you'll see a lot of the younger people in the industry, because they are used to having their say on social media, they seem like they feel

a little bit more comfortable, Becky, in speaking out on either side if they're supporting Israel or if they're supporting Palestine.

And then there's some people who say, you know, that you can be anti what you see happening over there, and that does not make you antisemitic. But

Robert Kraft was very clear when he, you know, said that he would not welcome Ed Sheeran's show if Macklemore was a part of it because he felt

like it crossed the line with the Jewish community, Becky.

ANDERSON: Got it, Lisa, it's always a pleasure having you on.

FRANCE: Thank you.

ANDERSON: Thank you very much indeed for making the time for us today.

FRANCE: Thank you.

ANDERSON: I think we just dropped your mic out there a little earlier, so apologies to our viewers for that. Thank you. Right, Democrats in Congress

have launched an investigation into reports that a Russian oligarch paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for Donald Trump Jr. wedding celebrations

in the Bahamas.

The inquiry follows a report by ProPublica. CNN's Tom Foreman has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On social media, Donald Trump Jr. and his new wife Bettina say their blowout post-wedding party in the

Bahamas was no conspiracy, no mystery. So why, in that intimate gathering of family and friends on a pair of private islands, did so many people not

know this guest at least, according to U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche.

TODD BLANCHE, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: The president doesn't know who this person is. I think other members of the family don't know who this

person is.

FOREMAN (voice-over): But in a detailed investigation, ProPublica says the mystery man is Russian billionaire Umar Kremlev, who footed the bill for

hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses for the newlywed Trumps.

All during this party that included scantily clad dancers, a five-tier cake from Florida, and a firework show.

DONALD TRUMP JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: I had an awesome weekend. The family had an awesome weekend. It was really cool.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The publication also says Kremlev is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who gave him the Russian Order of Friendship for

his loyalty, among other things. Kremlev, ProPublica says, rose from a government-backed motorcycle gang called the Night Wolves to connect with

the man who now leads Putin's security service.

And then take over the Russian boxing federation and the nation's largest car dealership group, becoming rich and famous. In one video on social

media, ProPublica writes, Kremlev surprises a young mother by giving her a free car. In another, he criticizes his young female aide's outfit as not

feminine enough.

He shadows boxes with ostriches. He praises Stalin and rides private jets. And after meeting at a sports conference, he and Don Jr. called each other

friends. Our dear friend Umar, the newlyweds, wrote in a statement yesterday. Very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for

us after our wedding, for which we were and remain incredibly grateful.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: You know, this is not good timing for me.

FOREMAN (on camera): President Trump said last spring he would not attend that wedding party, and he did not. And Kremlev's office made clear to

ProPublica their man has done nothing wrong. This is just socializing.

FOREMAN (voice-over): So, will the attorney general investigate anything about this?

BLANCHE: When you say, am I investigating? Am I investigating what? And when you say this person is a friend of Putin, I don't even know if that's

true or not.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And we will be right back after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: Well, a top Pentagon official has confirmed that the U.S. has deployed weapons in space, saying that the country is ready to defend

against threats wherever they exist. Well, it is the first public acknowledgement after years of warnings of potential space threats by China

and by Russia. CNN's Brian Todd with the details.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An extraordinary acknowledgement by a top U.S. official of the presence of U.S. weapons in space. This is believed to

be the first time that a U.S. official has ever acknowledged the presence of American weapons in space.

This came from Air Force Secretary Troy Menk at a conference outside Washington, saying that the U.S. has deployed weapons in space and will use

them to defend American forces. Menk said the United States now has quote, on orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against

hostile adversary action.

Now Menk did not provide specifics about the weapons, and when he was pressed on specifics, he refused to give any details. He was vague,

possibly because there are treaties in place restricting the placement of certain kinds of weapons in orbit, including the 1967 Outer Space Treaty,

which bans nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction in orbit.

It does not ban the use of conventional weapons in space. It is also not known exactly when these American weapons were deployed into space. CNN has

reached out to the Space Force for comment on this. China and Russia have been challenging America's dominance in space in recent years.

The U.S. military has repeatedly warned that China and Russia are testing new offensive space capability, like Russian satellite constellation

training missions, as U.S. officials phrased it.

U.S. officials say that this Russian system could demonstrate attack and defend tactics for combat in space.

Also, U.S. officials saying that China is developing what they call a nuclear-capable partial orbit hypersonic missile. Brian Todd, CNN,

Washington.

ANDERSON: And I'll be back with more "Connect the World" in 15 minutes. "World Sports" up after this short break. Stay with us.

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