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Top AI Executives Meet Trump Soon at White House; Former Israeli Security Chief Suing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Trump Unveils America.gov for Accessing Government Services; Netanyahu Made Secret Visit to UAE and Met with President; Clancy Motion to Dismiss Case Delayed until November 2; French Public Sector Strike over Planned Budget Cuts; Prosecutor in Cornell Gang Rape Case Says Consent Very Specific in State Law. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired September 29, 2026 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): And welcome to what is the second hour of the show from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu
Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson, time just after 6:00 in the evening.
And this hour we are watching for U.S. president Donald Trump to unveil a new front door to the federal government. America.gov is an AI powered
platform. And the president, a big fan of AI, he'll be welcoming the leaders of Anthropic, Nvidia, OpenAI, Palantir and Meta to the White House
soon.
Keep in mind, OpenAI has said that it is scrapping its latest model because it didn't meet the company's safety standards. Well, CNN's Stephen
Collinson is in Washington and Lance Ulanoff is the editor at large of TechRadar, joining us from New York.
It's good to have you both on board. Thank you.
Lance, let's start with you. In the recent weeks, we've seen a flurry of reports, of course, of AI agents going rogue -- misaligned is the technical
term is in the business and hacking into other companies or government websites.
Is scaling back release of new frontier models enough or does there need to be more accountability at this point?
LANCE ULANOFF, EDITOR AT LARGE, TECHRADAR: Yes, well, no, it's not enough. There's no real accountability because there's no real law or framework for
charging any company with anything. But also there's no regulation and there's no global agreement because, honestly, what we need are global
agreements, global regulations.
So everybody's on the same page about what they're developing, what they should and shouldn't release and how they can ensure that these models, as
they're being developed, are not running off and doing things they do not expect.
ANDERSON: Stephen, let me bring you in. Donald Trump, ignoring these warnings, calling this talk of AI safety and the, you know, the importance
of AI safety just a hoax, moving forward with what he calls super intelligence. It has a new branding.
And he is meeting later with the tech CEOs, an important one as far as the White House is concerned. Let's remember this is a group of tech CEOs that
he courts on a regular basis. I've seen them twice in this region alone, both here in Abu Dhabi and in Riyadh. They work with him and in tandem
these days.
What do you make of what we're seeing at this point?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think there's quite a lot of growing intrigue about the politics of AI in Washington.
What exactly is Trump doing here?
I think there's certainly a sense that the president likes to show that he's got the power to convene these tech giants at the White House whenever
he wants to.
And, you know, when people talk about, well, should the government be starting to think about the implications of this technology, it's not a
great sign that the president thinks his big contribution so far is renaming it superintelligence in a particularly Trump move.
I do think, though, that there is some possibility that the White House sees this as a little bit of putting a Band-aid on a very difficult
political problem. There's a massive backlash in the midterm elections against data centers because they push up power bills for people at a very
difficult time economically.
And also because, going forward, I think the president risks being quite exposed on AI. If you start to see more of these incidents, like the ones
you mentioned, if you start to see hacking of government websites or big firms by AI agents, then he's really behind on the politics of this.
And I think sometimes, in Washington, the people that lead us here are the last to get the message about what the public thinks. So while the
president seems to be standing firm on his decision not to do anything, I think the country is shifting. And that, in the end, may be something that
moderates the White House position in the future.
ANDERSON: Yes. And the leader of the House, which, of course, is controlled by the Republicans, at that meeting today, I mean, AI is so
polarizing in this runup to the midterm elections. And so clearly some conversations going on with the leader of the House.
[10:05:02]
And again, as we all know, you know, most polls, if not all polls, suggesting that Republicans are very likely to lose the House in this
midterm cycle. So it will be interesting to see, you know, what the reports are of those conversations that will be going on behind closed doors today
at the White House.
I want to bring in Adam Cancryn, who is at the Mellon Auditorium in D.C., where Donald Trump is revealing the new America.gov website.
Adam, what do we know about this site?
ADAM CANCRYN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're waiting here for president Donald Trump to make remarks within the next hour about this
launch of America.gov.
Which is mainly an example, an attempt to try to show some of the benefits of AI during a really politically dicey time for this technology and for
the administration.
The short idea here is that this is going to be an AI-powered federal website that makes navigating the federal bureaucracy a little bit easier,
a little bit simpler, trying to accomplish some everyday tasks that can get very frustrating for Americans very quickly, traditionally.
So this is something like trying to renew or apply for a passport, trying to apply for a disaster loan, changing your name after you've been married
in the past. These are things that could have taken navigating several different federal websites all at the same time.
The idea here, what we're about to hear, is this idea that you can just now go to this federal AI chatbot, say this is what I want to do, I want to
apply for a passport and it will make that process simpler, walk you through it.
One of these things that the administration has kind of said, you know, we can show the power of AI here, make people's lives easier. And to your
point earlier and to your guests' point earlier, this is a tough time for AI.
This comes as the administration is trying to figure out how to navigate these safety concerns. The president meeting with several top tech
executives later at the White House.
That is really the main event of the day, to see if there's anything in terms of consensus that will come out of that meeting in terms of how to go
forward on regulating or not regulating these big language models, Becky.
ANDERSON: Lance, I'm anchoring here from our Middle East programming headquarters in Abu Dhabi. And introducing AI into government websites and
workflow, in fact, across the sector as a whole, not new where I live here in the UAE. It's big.
Have a listen to Microsoft president Brad Smith speaking about this on the Hill in front of Congress just last year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD SMITH, PRESIDENT, MICROSOFT: Remember when you had to stand in line to renew your driver's license?
Remember when you didn't know how to report a pothole that needed to be repaired on your street?
Remember when you had a fender bender in a car and you had to fill out all these forms and talk to all these people to get insurance coverage?
Now you can do it all with one AI system. You can use your phone. And by the way, you can do this today in Abu Dhabi. We need to bring it to
America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That was about 15 or 16 months ago.
Do you see this becoming the gold standard?
And I have to ask, I wonder why the U.S. is so late to the party on this.
ULANOFF: I mean, I think smaller countries --
(CROSSTALK)
ULANOFF: -- it can be sometimes easier to --
(CROSSTALK)
ULANOFF: Oh.
(LAUGHTER)
Yes, I think sometimes it's easier to move smaller countries in one big direction, all at once. In the U.S., we have a lot of competing voices.
Within the AI industry, we have disagreement about the regulation and how things should be implemented.
And I think it's really interesting with the America.gov site, which, by the way, kind of went live right before we went on. And you could start to
see it's basically a chatbot. And the U.S. government's kind of force- feeding AI into the system at a moment when there's such distrust.
And I think the problem is they're trying to do it at the same time, instead of getting that trust in place and making people feel comfortable
with using AI and how it's going to impact their lives. And so those questions have been answered.
And by the way, I don't know that they'll be answered today because you don't have agreement within this small group of people. But what you do
have is a U.S. government that really has very little interest in regulating and much more interest in use of these devices and of these
technologies.
And one thing to look at, if you happen to look at the America.gov website at the moment, it's a chatbot with images. And one of the images I saw
immediately is a kid face down on the ice. I have no idea what that's supposed to mean.
And it's kind of one of the issues you have if you allow AI to generate an image without really kind of thinking it through, that it sends the wrong
message.
[10:10:00]
ANDERSON: That's fascinating.
Stephen, let me bring you back in here.
And thank you both for sticking with me on this.
Stephen, in a recent CNN poll, 71 percent of Americans, more than two- thirds, say that the government is not doing enough to regulate AI.
And I just wonder, you know, how you believe or what you believe people will feel, given that polling about the introduction of this AI platform,
you know, described by Lance barely more than a chatbot, really.
And around the world, I have to say, I mean, I'm already seeing governments that are running online with chatbots.
But what do you think the response is likely to be?
COLLINSON: I think one of the problems in the United States is that AI, especially in this election season, has become this umbrella issue, which
almost epitomizes all the other issues in the election.
So we talk about how people are worried about the affordability of everyday life. Well, when they see data centers, they blame them for putting their
power bills up.
There's a great deal of concern about whether AI will take away people's jobs in much the same way as it did during the early 2000s in the -- that
technology did and jobs moving abroad in Midwestern industrialized states.
So all of these issues tend to come up under this umbrella of AI. And when you therefore have these leaders of the technology themselves coming out
and saying, well, we're worried about how this could harm humanity, then it's a very toxic atmosphere for the whole conversation about AI to go
ahead with.
Add to that, you have the president, who is on exactly the opposite issue of most of the public on this issue, a very unpopular president. So what he
says about AI I don't think really cuts through.
And, of course, the president understands that the economy, which is in not great shape, is being propped up by many of these AI firms in the
investment. And that's crucial to the growth numbers.
So he has no interest, not just because he's worried about falling behind China, because he doesn't want the economy to go into freefall. So there is
a great culture, I think, of distrust around AI.
And you have to say many of the things that the White House is doing only seem to add to that. This might change when you have a new Congress comes
in, whoever wins, if it's full of people who believe that fears about AI were instrumental to their election.
And this is going to be a big issue going forward. That could create some momentum, I think, at least for a more serious discussion in Washington
about this.
ANDERSON: Yes. And you and I know there's been -- and, Lance, I'm sure you know and agree with us on this -- there were -- there were some really
valuable and robust conversations on, you know, safety principles around AI and guardrails over the last three or four years during the previous
administration.
And those can be reemerged relatively quickly, one assumes, and leant into those initiatives that were not just being discussed but in place before
this Trump administration, were we to see some change in these midterms.
It's good to have you both. Thank you very much indeed.
You are watching CONNECT THE WORLD. Still to come on this show, Benjamin Netanyahu now facing a lawsuit over alleged October the 7th intel failures.
The conflicting statements from the prime minister and the former Israeli security chief, who is bringing the suit.
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ANDERSON: A disturbing development in the handling of undocumented migrant children in the United States. Dozens of kids attending deportation
hearings in immigration courtrooms but without an attorney representing them. That includes children as young as 2 years old.
My colleague, Priscilla Alvarez has more in what is this exclusive reporting.
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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Migrant children are increasingly going through immigration court alone, the place where an immigration judge
will decide if they stay in the United States or they're removed.
That was the case in a Texas immigration courtroom today, where 25 children appeared before an immigration judge, many without attorneys, that included
an 8-year old, a 9-year old, a 13-year old from Honduras who was ordered deported -- again, he did not have an attorney.
And during his back and forth with the immigration judge, he said, quote, "I have no one. I have nothing," as he burst into tears talking there about
Honduras, his home country.
Now there was also a 3-year old who played with the mic. His attorney beamed-in remotely.
Now in some of these sketches that you'll see here, there are adults that are sitting with the children. Well, those are caseworkers. They are there
to supervise the children, not to provide them legal representation.
And it is becoming more challenging for children to get legal representation after the Trump administration allowed a contract for legal
service providers to lapse. That was a contract that subcontracted to 100 legal service providers around the country.
Now the administration has since struck another contract. However, multiple sources I spoke with say that is not enough. There is a large population,
hundreds of unaccompanied migrant children who need help in the courtroom, as well as through the immigration process.
And these are children who cross the U.S.-Mexico border alone or were brought into custody after a family member or guardian was detained by ICE.
And these are children that are in shelters that are operated by the Department of Health and Human Services.
And in a statement, an HHS spokesperson said, quote, "Under the Trump administration, ORR remains committed to ensuring that every unaccompanied
illegal alien child has legal representation in the immigration court."
But as was the case in Texas, there are still multiple children, very young children, who are continuing to go through this process and face
deportation on their own -- Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: The former head of Israel's Shin Bet security agency says he is going to sue the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for
defamation.
Ronen Bar accuses him of a, quote, "unbridled and baseless incitement campaign" over responsibility for alleged intelligence failures before the
October 7th attacks.
The prime minister dismissed Bar from his post last year, citing a loss of trust.
Well, news of the lawsuit comes a day after Mr. Netanyahu denied media reports alleging the UAE and Egypt had warned Israel of a major Hamas
offensive in the days before October the 7th. Jeremy Diamond is following developments from Jerusalem and he joins us now.
Two questions to you, I guess.
What's Bar saying about those alleged warnings?
And how is this all playing out just a month ahead of Israeli elections?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, this really is the latest wrinkle in this 1.5 weeks-long saga that we've seen so far about the
warnings that prime minister Netanyahu allegedly received about a potential Hamas attack on Israel in the days and weeks before October 7th.
And the latest wrinkle is indeed that the former Shin Bet director is now saying that he's going to sue the prime minister for defamation after the
prime minister tried to deflect blame and responsibility over receiving any warnings onto Ronen Bar.
[10:20:11]
When the prime minister was denying this latest story, that the Egyptian intelligence chief provided Israel with warnings in the days before October
7th about a potential attack, prime minister Netanyahu just yesterday said that it was in fact Ronen Bar, the Shin Bet chief, who failed to warn him.
Failed to update him in the night before and also in the days before that. Ronen Bar, the former Shin Bet director, is now firing back not only with
this defamation lawsuit but also saying that he had, quote, "warned" the prime minister of an impending disaster in an unprecedented manner and that
those warnings were ignored.
According to Ronen Bar and what's also interesting is that in addition to saying that he's going to file this lawsuit, Bar is also saying that he's
going to demand, first of all, the disclosure of all documents and testimony concerning warnings and information provided to the Israeli prime
minister ahead of the October 7th attacks.
As well as demanding that the meeting schedule that Netanyahu had with security establishment and foreign officials also be disclosed to the
public. Of course, all of this is a big part of the election campaign that's currently happening in Israel with less than a month to go until
Election Day.
What prime minister Netanyahu did and did not know in the leadup to October 7th has become a central part of this campaign, as well as the prime
minister's refusal to establish a state commission of inquiry to look into the security failures that led to that terrible day.
All of the members of the opposition running against prime minister Netanyahu say that, when they come into office, they will establish that
state commission of inquiry and to get answers for the families of the deceased and those who were taken hostage.
ANDERSON: Jeremy, thank you. We are a month out from the Israeli elections. More on this as we get it.
Right. I want to get you back stateside, folks. U.S. president Donald Trump is, as I understand it, about to speak. He is unveiling a new federal
government website driven by artificial intelligence.
This is the president. This event is in Washington. And we know that this event comes ahead of a meeting with the Big Tech chiefs today. We are
expecting to see Anthropic, OpenAI, Nvidia, Meta, Palantir all at the White House today for discussions with Donald Trump. So this event happening
ahead of that. Let's listen in.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: And thank you all for being here at one of the most revolutionary product launches of all time. It really is. It's the
ultimate product. It's called America. When you think about it, with America.gov, the federal government no longer stands in your way and it
stands only at your service.
And that's what we're doing. We're simplifying it. We're glamorizing it. We're making it what it should be. I want to thank the mastermind behind
many of the incredible breakthroughs that we've just seen. Airbnb co- founder, a very smart guy, a friend of mine for a long time, chief design officer of the United States of America, Joe Gebbia.
Thank you, Joe. Great job. And also, thank you, Joe.
A very special thanks as well to chief brand architect of the United States, Peter Arnell. I've known Peter for a long time. I knew Peter in the
old days when he was slightly heavier, like by about 250 lbs. Nobody's going to believe that. Check it out.
And I liked him both ways. His doctor likes him better this way. He's a great guy, very talented guy.
The lead engineer also, Ed Coristine.
Ed, thank you and the entire team at the National Design Studio. We have a design studio that didn't exist and now it is a big factor in our country.
People are talking about it having to do with many other things, too.
These incredible patriots could be making millions and millions of dollars. Actually, they did make millions and millions of dollars if you want to be
very accurate about it. And they decided not to make anymore. Let's go here. We want to be involved with our government and we want to put our
government ahead.
They're working 20-hour days in government on behalf of our country and we salute them. They really are very among the most successful people at what
they do. Maybe the most successful and they gave it all up to come here. It was a good idea I had but they all gave it up. We got him for the right
price. I think it's nothing.
[10:25:00]
But you got me for nothing, too. I don't take my salary. Do you believe that? No other president. They think that no other president has ever
served without receiving their salary.
They think George Washington, who was actually a very wealthy man, they think George Washington did not get a salary but they're not sure about
that but they're smart. They take their salary. I decided not to, including in my first term.
Do I get thanks for it?
None. Nobody ever says, "Thank you very much, sir."
Oh, boy. Oh, boy. But I also have to thank the man who initially envisioned the transformation of government through technology and brought us the
talent to get the job done. And that's Elon Musk. And he's coming up here as you know in a little while, great guy.
And we're pleased to be joined as well by many members of my cabinet. The president of Meta, Dina Powell, has been my friend for a long time. She was
in my first administration. She was fantastic.
Where's Dina?
Is she here?
Dina. Oh, Dina, stand up.
He made a good move. I said he -- how did he think of that one? That was a good move. Very smart. Good. And I heard you're doing great, too. Have a
extra little flare. Something special when they were with me for a long time.
She was with me pretty much for the whole time. She saw some incredible things and she saw some nasty people.
We met a couple of nasty ones but we took care of him, didn't we, Dina?
Huh?
But he's fantastic. And countless other innovators, technology leaders and pioneers here this morning. Yeah, this room is amazing.
Actually, we're launching today something that is really, it's not just simply a website. It's a restoration of America's founding promise. And
it's a reinvention of your government for the 21st century and beyond. We're putting power and control back into the hands of the people right
where it belongs.
Two hundred fifty years ago, the Declaration of Independence proclaimed that America's government exists to serve American citizens. Yet for too
long, the experience of our citizens has been the exact opposite.
Washington bureaucracies have grown ever larger and more intrusive and armies of federal bureaucrats have behaved as if your job is to answer to
them, not to government in the much more practical and smaller form. They did it the other way around and they're not supposed to have done that.
But all of that changes starting right now. Government has been broken for many, many decades. You could say probably centuries. We don't go back that
long but decades we know. And the Trump administration is fixing it. And we're fixing it starting immediately.
We actually started this project on day one. This is actually a very complex project. We actually started this almost on day one and it took us
that time to get the very complex subject matter made simple and it is made simple and also made beautiful.
We're making it dramatically easier and faster and more convenient to get what you need exactly when you need it. And for our entire lives, we become
used to a government so big it makes the citizen feel very, very small. But with America.gov, the entire U.S. government will fit in the plan.
Right?
Think of that. We have a plan. It's held in the palm of your hand. A very simple plan that sits in the palm of your hand. Instead of forcing citizens
to search through the endless maze of tens of thousands of terrible government websites and rules and more than 10,000 forms, you have over
10,000 forms to do basic acts.
You'll now have one front door for every single question. Everything will be answered easily and quickly. A digital home built around your time and
your life. You'll save hours and hours, many hours, hundreds of hours perhaps a year, depending on how much of that type of information you need.
Simply ask for what you need and America.gov will provide answers and it will be provided immediately. Think of that. It's amazing. Anyone has used
Grok or Gemini or ChatGPT will understand instantly how to use America.gov. Not complicated.
As Secretary Rubio, who's by the way doing a fantastic job, I will tell you he's doing a phenomenal job.
[10:30:00]
Will demonstrate, getting a passport once required appointments, paperwork and months of waiting. Now it's done in a few simple clicks, very simple.
For years, a woman who wanted to change her name after getting married had to navigate a stressful, bureaucratic process that took months and months
and even years to complete.
Very soon, all she'll have to do is ask America.gov and it'll fill out the forms, track the progress and send her a new Social Security card, passport
and insurance card in the mail. It'll arrive almost instantly.
Whether you're a Scout leader who wants to reserve a campsite at a national park, a senior citizen trying to choose a Medicare plan or an American
veteran trying to get the benefits that you've earned and so justly deserve, America.gov will be there to help and to help you accurately and
quickly.
And with this, nobody can any longer complain about providing proof of citizenship or voter ID. They're always saying it's too complicated. Too
complicated. It's not complicated anymore.
Well, they'll come up with some other reason because they don't want to have you. They don't want to have it be easy. But it is easy because you
can get everything now that you need in just one simple swipe. And so nobody will have any excuses. We must pass and now can pass in theory very
easily.
ANDERSON: Lance Ulanoff is the editor of large of TechRadar. He's back with us.
And you heard Donald Trump there laying out just how easy the use of this platform will be and the benefits to everybody. I guess that begs the
question.
You know, with your tech hat on, just how realistic is that kind of ease of use, do you think, for the average man on the street or woman on the
street?
ULANOFF: Well, first of all, let's think about what's happened with AI over the last four years. Nobody was really talking about it or using it.
Now it's so popular with consumers, especially young people say they chatted something for ChatGPT. That's the signature of these AI tools, that
they are incredibly easy to use.
And I will give credit, you know, that this is a site. It's basically -- the interface is a chatbot. It looks like something that you recognize. And
I already started asking questions. I just -- whatever I wanted to, I threw in there and asked it questions. And it responded. So the ease of use, that
seems to be there.
ANDERSON: Got it. Good. All right. Well, we will -- we will continue to follow this and we will be listening into Donald Trump's speech there on
the unveiling ahead of his meeting later today with the heads of some of these Big Tech companies. Good to have you on board, Lance. Thank you.
We are back after this quick break. Stay with us.
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[10:35:00]
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You are watching CONNECT THE WORLD just after 6:30 here. These are your
headlines.
The federal government is just taking the wrapper off a new AI powered platform. The U.S. president Donald Trump unveiling America.gov to make it
easier to access federal services. And in a couple of hours, the AI bosses of Anthropic, Nvidia, OpenAI, Palantir and Meta, at least, are set to meet
with the president at the White House.
U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio tells FOX News that an alleged terror plot foiled in the U.K. quote, "clearly involved a foreign actor." He gave
no further details. His comments coming after president Trump expressed surprise that the suspects in that investigation were released on bail,
saying the U.S. would not have freed them.
Well, happening this hour on Capitol Hill in Washington, Senate Republicans grilling ex-special counsel Jack Smith about the criminal cases that he
brought against president Trump.
Earlier Smith said he continues to, quote, "stand by" his decision to prosecute Donald Trump and defended his staff against attacks from
Republican lawmakers, noting the personal cost the investigations have taken.
ANDERSON: Well, the former head of Israel's Shin Bet security agency says that he is going to sue the Israeli prime minister for defamation. Ronen
Bar accuses Benjamin Netanyahu of a, quote, "unbridled and baseless incitement campaign" over responsibility for alleged intel failures before
the October 7th attacks.
The prime minister dismissed Bar from his post last year, citing a loss of trust.
We are learning more about Benjamin Netanyahu's secret trip -- or not so secret now -- confirmed to the UAE over the weekend. Both countries now
confirming that visit, saying the Israeli prime minister and the UAE president, Mohamed bin Zayed, discussed strengthening bilateral relations.
Well, the meeting coming just a month before elections in Israel. Danny Citrinowicz is a senior researcher in the Iran -- in Iran at Israel's
Institute for National Security Studies, also former head of Iran analysis for Israel defense intelligence.
It's good to have you and I want to talk about this trip by Benjamin Netanyahu to the UAE. The UAE now confirming that meeting happened, albeit
late. It took them 36 hours to do so, saying little else.
Much speculation that Netanyahu wanted the UAE to officially deny reports that he was told by the Emiratis about plans for the October the 7th
attacks. But again, no substance to that suggestion as yet.
What do you make of the timing, one, of Netanyahu's visit and does the group he brought with him signal to you the purpose of the visit?
DANNY CITRINOWICZ, SENIOR RESEARCHER, INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES: Again, Becky, thank you for having me. And definitely it's an
important visit.
One just need to ask why we are not seeing footage of this visit, given the strong relationship between the UAE and Israel. And I think that it's
coming from the right side (ph) who don't want to -- the visit to be used by Netanyahu for its political means.
I think definitely when you see Netanyahu brought with him the head of the National Security Council, the head of Mossad, definitely Iran was on the
table discussing the options and also the Houthis in terms of the future activities.
I think that, from the UAE standpoint, they're in a crossroad, whether to support a U.S. endeavor to return back to an agreement or they think about
maybe an escalation.
And I think in that regard, it was important visit to create this kind of coordination between the UAE and Israel before crucial things might happen
in the Iranian route, given the tension, the tension that we see right now between Washington and Tehran.
ANDERSON: Let's just talk about what we are seeing at present then.
How do you read the latest on the Iranian offer on the Strait of Hormuz, which was, you know, given to the Americans by the mediators, of course,
and the U.S. response at this point?
[10:40:06]
CITRINOWICZ: Well, again, we are in an important crossroad because, from the Iranian standpoint, they offer this -- some sort of proposal but it's
correlated with the red line. They didn't offer anything that actually different from the red lines, just offered the -- to minimize the time that
they will open Hormuz Strait.
And the discussion on the nuclear began. For them, it's a win-win situation because, if Trump will agree, they will earn with any back (ph) MOU that it
serves them interest. If we'll say no, then obviously they can -- they're able to say, listen, we want to return back to the agreement. The U.S. is
against an agreement. Then we have to escalate.
So in that regard, I think it's very important and crucial position. We have to remember one important thing about that. The U.S. president Trump
does not accept the Iranian proposal because he wants lifting of sanctions to be given to the Iranians only on the nuclear side, not on opening Hormuz
Strait.
Because for Trump's view, Hormuz Strait is open because he's passing billions of barrels a day through the strait. So we are in a stalemate. And
if they're not going to be any breakthrough in that regard, I believe that we'll see an escalation from the Iranian side.
ANDERSON: I just want to bring up a post that you made just hours ago. You posted that, for Netanyahu, quote, "Iran is the threat that's easier to
explain to the public."
With the election approaching, how much, Danny, of a political incentive is there for Netanyahu to keep Israelis entirely focused on an external enemy,
especially given these claims that he dismissed warnings from the UAE and Egypt ahead of October the 7th?
CITRINOWICZ: Netanyahu want to change the discourse in Israel. He is now saying that there are reports that someone is going to attack us before the
elections and, by the way, does not correlate with everything that he said that the countries in the region want to see his replacement definitely.
They don't want to attack Israel if they want that. So there is some contradiction in what he's saying. But he's trying to change the discourse.
Don't discuss with me about the 7th of October, discuss what happened after the 7th of October, how I managed to eliminate the axis of resistance.
And, of course, if others want to attack us, we will be ready to do so. Now that is something definitely he wants to achieve and this is something he's
trying to do. But I want to say one thing that is important.
As we saw yesterday in the West Bank and as we saw in the Security Council or the general assembly when Netanyahu gave his speeches, the end of the
day, the Israeli problem is much bigger than Iran. We have huge (INAUDIBLE) problem. We have a huge problem of Jewish terrorism in the West Bank and we
have to take care of that.
But for Netanyahu, it's more convenient to focus on the Iranian issue rather than the issues related to the Palestinians and other things that he
is actually is on the downside of things and doesn't have the upper hand.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you, Danny. I'm going to get you back to talk about where you think the sort of -- the Houthi-Saudi Arabia, Bab-el-Mandeb
Strait sort of file fits into all of this but we've run out of time today and that continues.
And so we'll have you back to discuss that and the importance of that and the involvement of Israel potentially in that file going forward. Good to
have you, mate.
To Danny's point, the Palestinian death toll then from the war between Israel and Hamas has now surpassed 73,000, according to Gaza's health
ministry. Of those, at least 1,400 have been killed since last October despite the announcement, of course, of a ceasefire.
Years of war caused widespread destruction in the enclave. You'll be well aware of that. What you're now seeing, though, is a satellite image of the
Al Shifa hospital in Gaza last month and before the October 7th attacks.
And this is the Kamal Adwan School area in Rafah now and before October the 7th. Many in Gaza have nowhere to turn to as the next steps in the U.S.-
brokered ceasefire have largely stalled. And these are images that are fresh in from Google that really give you an indication of the extent of
the damage there.
Well, still to come, a new chapter in the Lindsay Clancy case.
Could she face another murder trial?
We're going to follow this developing story for you and get you an update after this.
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[10:45:00]
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ANDERSON: Lindsay Clancy is back in court this hour but the judge will not hear arguments today on a motion to dismiss the case. That issue has now
been moved to a November the 2nd hearing.
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague told the judge that the state needs more time to respond to the defense motion, which argues Clancy's case should be
dismissed on double jeopardy grounds. CNN's Brynn Gingras following this for us.
And just how surprised are you by what we have learned in court this hour?
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Becky. So that was one motion that the judge has now pushed to that November 2nd date. Remember, there were a
number of motions that were filed very recently, even as of recent of this morning in this case.
So there are a lot of issues the judge is actually moving to November 2nd, including the one you just mentioned there. However, both sides were heard
on the issue that she shouldn't have this case retried because there isn't enough evidence.
At least that's what Kevin Reddington, her defense attorney, argued. And the judge, right now, he said he's going to take that under advisement. So
maybe we will hear something before November 2nd on this particular motion.
But I do want to get to Kevin Reddington, where he was arguing that the prosecution, throughout the weeks-long trial, essentially did not provide
enough evidence proving that she knew she was in her right mind when committing these acts. Let's hear some of his argument here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN REDDINGTON, CLANCY DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Attacked by human beings, why would this woman, who the evidence shows clearly and unequivocally was a
nurse, a mother, a friend, did nothing wrong in her life, why would she kill those three children?
All five of the doctors, six of the doctors, indicate that she was suffering from a mental disease or defect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRAS: Reddington basically said the case was based on speculation. There wasn't a thorough investigation and pointed out a number of things
for the judge to consider. Of course, the prosecution had its chance.
The assistant D.A. there basically saying Reddington's argument is laughable, that during the whole entire trial, he admitted or his client
admitted that she did these killings. And now he's changing his tune, is what she was arguing.
And she basically said she knew what she was doing. It was premeditated. It does fit the bill for first degree murder charges. So no clear direction on
where we are headed, although it does appear we are headed toward another trial. But that still isn't even clear at this point.
ANDERSON: Got it. All right, Brynn, thank you so much.
You're with CNN. I'm Becky Anderson, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. We will be back after this. Stay with us
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ANDERSON: Well, a day of strikes and protests have begun in France after the French public sector called on unions to demonstrate against planned
budget cuts announced by the government of President Macron.
High school students have also joined the movement, blocking entrances to schools. And this comes as opinion polls show the consistently deep
popularity of Mr. Macron's administration. CNN's Melissa Bell is on the ground in Paris for the latest.
You know, it isn't unfamiliar to see protests in France and hear the grievances of those protesting.
But just what are you hearing today?
And how significant are these budget cuts that are motivating these strikes, Melissa?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We mentioned the unpopularity of Emmanuel Macron's presidency. We're heading into this next
final year of his presidency.
And what has really triggered this has been the announcement by the government of prime minister Lecornu of the budget for 2027. What that
involves, Becky, is a freeze on public sector pay hikes.
And what the unions here, in rare display of unity, I have to say, are arguing is that that means that public sector workers, like teachers but
also hospital workers, railway workers, many of them out here protesting today, simply can't meet the cost of living.
So that there's been such a rise in the cost of living that their purchasing power means that today they're being left behind. What the
government says is that these measures are about ensuring that public costs don't freeze but rather that they don't rise too far.
They're going to push austerity budget as a bigger budget and probably the most rigorous, they're saying, ever published a year before an election.
This, though, is the result, a great deal of anger out there. What we saw, Becky, beyond those that had set off from earlier this morning -- and
they're now arriving here at (INAUDIBLE) at the end of their trek, where the firemen joined them at Bastille.
And what they're protesting -- there are about 8,000 firemen in the streets of Paris today -- but they're asking for not so much a wage hike as more
resources. Remember that this summer, on the back of firearms and fire.
And the gist of their beef with government is that they're simply not getting the resources that they need to try and tackle the fires that are
becoming very difficult.
So a lot of disquiet on the streets of Paris today, many tens of thousands of people out here and about 3,000 policemen trying to keep some kind of
order. But we're heading now toward the end of this protest. The question is, what happens here now at (INAUDIBLE) for the rest of the afternoon,
Becky.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Melissa. You are -- we're struggling to hear you over the sound of the protesters. But got most of what we needed
from you. Appreciate that. Thank you very much indeed.
Always a problem when you're out on the noisy streets.
All right. Well, we've just heard from one of the fraternity members at Cornell University accused of a sexual assault two years ago. In a
statement to ABC, the man denies sexual activity but did acknowledge that he sent a message and briefly stopped in the room where misconduct happened
but not when it happened.
Well, this comes after the accuser filed a civil lawsuit alleging that seven fraternity brothers raped and drugged her, prompting prosecutors to
reopen what was the 2024 case. Now the original investigation did not result in any criminal charges. The district attorney spoke with CNN's Jake
Tapper last night. Have a listen.
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: You referred to her consenting.
And from what I read from the excerpts that you or summaries, whatever, that you put out today.
[10:55:04]
Is that she consented to a threesome with two other guys but she did not consent to the five other guys that came into the room and that she hid
under the covers and she pushed one away.
And nothing that happened with those five other guys sounds consensual at all to me.
Am I reading this wrong?
MATTHEW VAN HOUTEN, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, TOMPKINS COUNTY, NEW YORK: Frankly, you are. When she was subjected -- there were two instances she describes
where someone touched her in a way that she didn't want them to touch her and she told them no and they did not continue.
But consent or lack of consent is very much -- very specific under New York state law.
You either have to be physically compelled or forcible compulsion, physical force or you have to be physically helpless, which is unconscious or you
have to be mentally incapacitated, which is having been given drugs without your knowledge that rendered you incapable of consenting.
None of those things were articulated in her initial statement.
That being said, I don't -- that's what we knew in 2024. Now we understand that she feels differently and we want to talk with her. We want to give
her a chance to speak her truth before the grand jury and tell the rest of the story, whatever information that she gained and insight she gained in
the last two years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: OK. That is the very latest as we have it. And, of course, we continue to report on this story.
All right. Well, that is it for CONNECT THE WORLD. And CNN continues their "ONE WORLD." Up next.
END
