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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Unveils America.gov for Accessing Government Services; Nvidia Launches Tool to Stop AI Agents From Going Rogue; OpenAI Cancels Release of New Model Over Safety Concerns; Trump Questions Release of Men in UK Air Base Investigation; Five Men Released on Bail Amid UK Air Base Investigation; Questions Swirl Following UK Air Base Arrests & Allegations. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired September 29, 2026 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Right, coming to you live from New York. I'm Zain Asher. This is "One World". Ahead on the show, OpenAI scraps the
rollout of a new model over safety concerns just hours before top AI leaders are set to meet with President Trump.
Spain's housing crisis is in the spotlight after the eviction of an elderly woman sparked widespread protests. How the government is responding to
calls for housing reform. We are live for you in Madrid. And only two chunky beds remain for Fat Bear Week's 2026 final.
Maybe the burliest, may the burliest, bulkiest, and beefiest bear win. All right. In the next hour, the White House holds a high-stakes meeting with
top tech leaders at the White House amid an intense debate over the promise and peril of artificial intelligence. The heads of some of the biggest
names in AI, Meta, Anthropic, Palantir, OpenAI, Nvidia are among those expected to join Donald Trump, and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Sources say the meeting is designed to get the government and top tech on the same page as incidents of AI agents going rogue pile up. The meeting
comes as the U.S. President unveils a new America.gov website powered by AI. It's designed to make access to federal services easier.
President Trump called it one of the most revolutionary product launches of all time, his words, and laid out how easy he says the platform would be
for everybody to use.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Anyone who's 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.
Will demonstrate getting a passport once required appointments, paperwork, and months of waiting. Now it's done in a few simple clicks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: This, as we get word of a startling new report, in a leaked IPO prospectus obtained by Reuters Anthropic says its AI models could pose a
quote catastrophic or existential risk to humanity, and actually can, in their words, resist shutdown. Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Alayna
Treene at the White House.
So, on the one hand, you have President Trump unveiling America.gov, really showing some of the benefits of AI. But it is an interesting split screen
with these meetings that he's having with AI tech executives. On the one hand, they're saying, a lot of them are saying, not all of them, that the
industry sort of needs to slow down.
There needs to be regulation, more regulation, because this stuff does actually pose a massive risk to humanity. And you have the president
saying, no, no, the fears are overblown. Normally, it's the other way around, Alayna.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah.
ASHER: So, it is a sort of bizarre time that we are living in here.
TREENE: That's -- you're absolutely right, and I will say the two -- some of the two leaders really in artificial intelligence are of course OpenAI
and Anthropic, and leaders from both of those companies are going to be at this White House luncheon later today. But they're also the two companies
who are ringing the alarm bells about the dangers of artificial intelligence, especially if it is not regulated in the future.
To break down some of their arguments, they say, look, we've seen a number of incidents over the summer where these different AI models, these more
advanced models, are going beyond what they argue is human authorization. They're acting as rogue actors almost.
And I think an example from OpenAI just days before this White House meeting is very telling. OpenAI announced that for the second time in just
three months that it was pausing all training and testing on its most advanced model after one of them had again this is the second time this has
happened found a way out of its testing environment and gained access to the open internet.
These are the types of examples that you're going to hear some of these leaders, the ones who are concerned about the risks of AI if it you know
gets out of the hand in the future, what they'll be bringing to this White House meeting. But you're exactly right, Zain. It's fascinating because on
the other hand, you have people like the president and also some of his top advisers who believe that one artificial intelligence is a huge driver of
the economy.
[11:05:00]
We've seen that just in recent months alone, of particularly when you look at data centers and some of the money that is being accumulated from those.
It's a huge driver of the economy, but also, it's a huge driver of modern technology. And the president has argued he wants to ensure that the United
States is the leader in this space and wants to ensure as well that it outpaces China.
That's really been the priority. You've heard Trump kind of focus on, even as you're hearing some of these leaders say, hey, we are concerned about
this. Now, I will say, just to walk through some of the people who are going to be at this meeting today, there's a long list, but some of the top
names we should note are Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.
He was actually at the White House on Sunday for a private dinner with the president. There's going to be Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia's Jensen
Huang. He's someone who the president talks to often. He's not as, you know, has less doomerism when it comes to AI, and he discusses that with
Trump often.
You have Palantir's Alex Karp and OpenAI's Greg Brockman, many others as well. Elon Musk will also be there. We're told as well as the House Speaker
Mike Johnson, who has for a while been trying to get some of these AI leaders in the same room with the president, so they can kind of hash out
these ideas.
Now, I will say, from our conversations with sources familiar with the arrangement of this meeting, they say this is not going to really solve the
problems. You know, you're not really expecting any big headlines or results out of this meeting. Instead, it's being viewed as a starting
point, especially given some of these people who are going to be in the room today have very differing views on how this works.
And all of it comes, Zain, as we are hearing from Americans. You're seeing in them their opinions in these polls that we're taking as well that they
are concerned about what the future of AI looks like, how it could potentially, if it could potentially take a lot of jobs.
And also, this all ties into data centers as well, which we know many Americans are worried about draining resources in their communities, as
well as it's going to be a big topic in the upcoming midterm election. So, a lot to get through at this meeting today.
ASHER: All right, Alayna Treene, live for us there. Thank you so much. Right, more now on AI safety Chipmaker Nvidia is introducing new software
to address concerns about AI agents that have gone rogue. This after a series of recent incidents in which AI systems hacked into corporate and
government systems without being told to do so.
CEO Jensen Huang says the company worked with more than 100 partners on this project. In a post on social media, Huang said, in part, trust and
innovation are not in conflict. Safety is how trust is found. We must build not only the most capable AI, but the most trusted AI, so that this
extraordinary technology can realize its enormous promise for the world.
In a separate move, OpenAI announced it will not release its latest AI model because it does not meet the bar for safety. Company executives say
the model called ChatGPT 6.1 Astra did not stay within the scope and authorization within its scope, rather and authorization.
Last week, OpenAI revealed that some of its agents probed U.S. government websites this summer, joining major competitors like Anthropic, Google, and
Meta, who have also reported breached attempts as well. A lot to discuss here. Let's bring in Chris Mattmann, a Data Science and Technology Expert.
He joins us live now from Los Angeles. And so, when you have a situation, Chris, whereby OpenAI has clearly spent, I don't know, I assume hundreds of
millions of dollars on this model that they're now saying they're not going to release. How concerned would they really have to be when you think about
it about safety to decide that commercial interests no longer matter?
That this model is no longer safe for the public. Just put yourself in their shoes at this point.
CHRIS MATTMANN, DATA SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXPERT: Yeah, Zain, thanks for having me on. And I'll just say the following, OpenAI has probably spent
billions of dollars on this particular model, which is ChatGPT Astra version 6.1. And look, it does show a commitment by the company to safety.
All of these models undergo kind of a final step after training, which is called alignment. Alignment is which is a point in which they teach it
human values, what we should do, do no harm, things like that. And basically, it was during the alignment step that some of the things that
the model was doing flagged to the auditors inside of OpenAI that this wasn't ready for prime time.
And a couple of the things that it did that you know kind of gave them pause were all of these agentic AIs, the ones that aren't just sort of
minds thinking but actually have arms and legs to do things. They get out, they get on the network, they hack other you know computers.
This particular one, when it was making those calls showed them that it was less willing to take feedback from its sort of human master. So that was
one of the points. And then the other is just the feedback that the models are actually giving. They actually watch and observe these models while
they're doing it. It gave them pause.
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ASHER: Yeah, so essentially exceeding its authorization, not listening just sort of human. I mean, this is really scary stuff that you're outlining,
and then on top of that, you have this leaked IPO prospectus that was obtained by Reuters with Anthropic themselves, right?
Anthropic themselves saying that their AI models pose a catastrophic or existential risk to humanity and can resist shutdown. I mean, based on what
is coming out of the White House, where you have the president essentially saying that these fears are overblown. I mean, how concerned are you that
the government just simply is not taking this seriously enough?
And if not, why not, do you think?
MATTMANN: Yeah, Zain. So, sort of first off, in terms of them taking it seriously enough, the first thing that the Trump Administration did when
they came in was to repeal a lot of the safe AI safety executive orders that were made during the prior administration, during the Biden
Administration.
They did that basically in the face of AI and cryptos are David Sacks mandate that we should focus on AI enablement and less on safety. That the
focus on safety and regulatory aspects in the last administration or what caused us to fall behind our competitors and foreign adversaries like
China.
That was their edict. Now, with all of the cybersecurity incidents, like Hugging Face and like these other things we've heard in the news, in which
these AI agents got out, went rogue, and things like that, basically the attitude with the administration is like, whoa, actually maybe we might
need to care about safety, and so then there's been sort of a pivot and a turn to that.
Now some feel that Anthropic and especially that particular company is really just focused on a future Democrat administration, and they're trying
to get ahead of a potential regulatory capture by basically saying that they're focusing on safety because if you'll recall, the person who quit
the company famously and said AI was going to, you know, potential to destroy us all.
10 percent chance in the next 10 years was actually an Anthropic employee, basically stating that yes, they're paying sort of lip service to this, but
they're still pushing forward and applying this. Whatever is getting the administration talking and focusing about safety is a good thing, I can
tell you now. So that's important, is that they're pivoting to that.
ASHER: Jensen Huang gave an interview to our Anderson Cooper a few days ago. And in it, I mean, obviously Anderson, one of the first questions he
asked was really about this idea that AI could pose a risk to humanity by the end of 2030, right? By the end of the decade.
And Jensen Huang's response was, well, not by 2030, indicating that you know the possibility that these models could actually pose a catastrophic
threat to humanity was not on the table. But what he was questioning was the timeline, which I'm sure a lot of people listening to that would have
found that very concerning, regardless.
So, he's saying this is Jensen Huang. He's saying that trust and innovation are not in conflict. That you can actually do both. That you can innovate.
One of Trump's priorities is, of course, to stay ahead of China, and also - - you can also ensure that there is some degree of regulation, some degree of public trust.
I mean, can you do both? Can the U.S. work hard to stay ahead of China without there being any kind of global agreement that ensures that these
models aren't advancing too quickly.
MATTMANN: I think that yes and yes to both of those sorts of questions. I think first off, there is while there might not be a global agreement,
there are institutes and basically researchers that are working internationally and collaborating and cooperating independent of the
government.
A lot of the policy and regulatory aspects have moved into higher education. Believe it or not, in the absence of the folks being in
government doing that, the folks focused on AI safety right now. A lot of them are in higher education, or they're in you know Western and European
non-United States, you know, government because that's one of their focuses.
So that said, focusing on staying ahead of these sorts of future potential foreign adversaries in terms of their AI development is critically
important. You might remember Seedance as an example, which is China's open weight movie model that had Hollywood up in arms because it could recreate
Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, so you know believing you know and things like that.
So, there is a lot of work that's going on with these OpenAI weight models. They cost less, they're cheaper, they can build them fast. And then China
is also doing a process name called distillation, in which they're looking at the United States models and then figuring out how they can basically
copy the outputs of that to make their own model.
So, we do have to compete with China. We don't have to do it in without focusing on safety. The safety work is still happening with or without the
government. But I think in the future, the way the winds are blowing, and as you guys noted already on your program, I think the way the winds are
blowing, there is going to be a focus on regulatory, whether in the Trump Administration or a future Democratic Congress or Democratic
administration.
ASHER: Right, if it's not necessarily mutually exclusive. Chris Mattmann, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right. President
Trump is criticizing the decision by police in Britain to release five men on bail after arresting them Sunday on suspicion of plotting a terror
attack.
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Police had detained the five near a British military base, which has been used by the U.S. to launch strikes on Iran. Trump suggested he knows who is
responsible for the suspected plot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm surprised that they released them. I wouldn't have done that. Look, they've been very good. They worked with us very closely. We know
everything about them. We would not have released them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you said might be, Iran might be? Can you elaborate on that?
TRUMP: Well, I'd rather not. I mean, I know the answer. I can be very specific, but I'd rather not say it. But I would not have released them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: CNN's Nic Robertson has more on the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Early Sunday, they were cuffed in police custody. Now, the five men arrested on
suspicion of terrorism and explosive charges outside a UK base used by the U.S. Air Force are out on bail.
LAURENCE TAYLOR, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF UK COUNTER TERRORISM POLICE: To be very clear, this does not mean that the investigation is over. They are
subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others. They absolutely remain under investigation as we explore multiple lines of
inquiry.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Police, after searching their vans, appear to lack evidence for now to support their suspicions.
TAYLOR: Those vehicles have been subject to extensive examination, with the support of military assets and forensic experts.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): It was finding those vehicles that triggered this farmer who took pictures of them to raise the alarm.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First thing I noticed was there's a vehicle on our farm drive, and then I realized there were three of them, and they're
parked in a really strange formation --
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Right after she spotted the now released men.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's such a flash moment of seeing them. But there were definitely more than five. We think maybe between 8 and 10 of them
were there at that point, and a lot of them had -- their faces covered.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): She called the police hotline 999, and then her friends.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know. Put a message on our village WhatsApp group, just saying because I didn't want people to be scared. I just said just to
let you all know something very odd has happened today in our or tonight in the village, and told them what I'd seen.
Literally within five minutes of that, everything sort of kicked off, and armed police arrived.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): After them, the bomb squad showed up. Next, several 100 local residents, including the farmer, evacuated. But the circumstances
leading to the short-lived arrest are raising concerns.
ROBERTSON: Local residents, including the farmer who called the police, have questions. They say over the past week, the base appeared to put in
place what looked like additional security measures, big vehicles, concrete blocks blocking the gates, giving access to the airfield.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just can't process how that base was on such high alert, and that the men were even there, never mind how many and how many
they caught, and they reacted very quickly to the 999 calls, but before that, where were they?
ROBERTSON (voice-over): The area's local lawmaker has questions too.
ROZ SAVAGE, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR SOUTH COTSWOLDS: -- but I have so many questions that I really want to ask the Secretary of State for Defense,
even the prime minister, about who knew what and when. If there was advance intelligence, then it seems that a lot of people who should have known that
didn't know that.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): For now, more unknown than known. The UK counter- terrorism chiefs leaving the possibility open. The men acted wittingly or unwittingly, working for a foreign state. Nic Robertson, CNN, Fairford,
England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Right. Still to come on "One World", a rare rebuke from Benjamin Netanyahu after Israeli settlers go on rampage in the occupied West Bank.
At the heart of it all, a Palestinian family trying to go back to their home. And the eviction of an elderly woman sparks large protests on the
streets of Spain.
Why it struck a chord with people across the country? That's next --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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ASHER: All right, a wave of strikes and student protests are ramping up across France, heaping more pressure on President Emmanuel Macron just days
ahead of the government's 2027 draft budget release. Students blocked entrances to high schools in multiple cities, clashing with police, while
healthcare workers, firefighters, and teachers took to the streets.
All of it, a display of discontent with the planned budget cuts. Opinion polls consistently show the deep unpopularity of France's centre-right
government and President Macron as well. Meantime, in Spain, the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her home is sparking widespread protest across
the country, drawing attention to a pressing issue facing the country access to housing.
Tens of thousands of people marched in Madrid this weekend, protesting the Maria del Carmen Abascal. She was evicted from an apartment she had lived
in for more than 70 years, after her rent was more than tripled. It struck a huge chord with a number of people who struggle in Spain to find
affordable housing as well.
Amid an upsurge of public pressure, Maricarmen will soon be allowed to return to her apartment, paying a rent similar to her previous rate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARICARMEN ABASCAL, 87-YEAR-OLD EVICTED TENANT: I want what happened to me to help ensure it doesn't happen to other people. I wanted to lead people
to fight so the unfair laws that allowed for my eviction can be changed. That is why on Tuesday, Maricarmen's law must be approved, so they can take
a first step to end with this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Now the housing crisis. Let's bring in Pau Mosquera in Madrid. Pau, the housing crisis for Spain is a huge issue. I understand that the
coalition government has actually announced some new measures to combat it, including pausing evictions until 2030, which of course benefits tenants.
But some question what that means for sort of low-level small landlords. Walk us through.
PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's it, Zain. For many that are camping out here in Puerta del Sol, the news came as a surprise because
they were expecting just one real decree with all the measures as to tackle the country's housing prices, but instead they got two different texts.
The government has decided to go ahead with the measures in those two different texts, so they get, or at least they try to secure enough support
as to try to convalidate this decree in the parliament. Something that it's going to be necessary in order to these measures come into effect.
So, we have, in one hand, one text where they are proposing, as you were saying, for example, banning all kind of evictions of vulnerable families
until 2030, or for example --
[11:25:00]
ASHER: All right. It looks as though we lost our reporter there in Madrid, Pau Mosquera, who's talking to us about the housing crisis in Spain and the
fact that we've seen so much just in terms of protests after an 87-year-old woman, Maria del Carmen was evicted from her home.
It looks that we have Pau back. Pau, do we have you back? Can you hear me?
MOSQUERA: Yeah, Zain, sure. I can hear you loud and clear. This is a problem that we're normally facing here in Puerta del Sol because there are
so many people in here gathered that sometimes we keep losing the signal because a lot of them are using the phones.
But what I was saying, Zain, the importance right of these measures that have been approved today. So, the second Dax will have those that are
likely to cause more disagreement in the parliament. So right now, they still are very cautious when it comes to pronouncing on what the government
has announced, and they are waiting to get like a formal pronouncement regarding this.
But they are very clear, they will continue to put in pressure to the government, and they have already announced that they will call for more
demonstrations over the next few days. For example, they already have announced that there will be another concentration imagery this very
weekend, Zain.
ASHER: All right, Pau Mosquera, life for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right, still to come on "One World", we'll be talking
about Jack Smith. He says, I will not be silenced. Those are the words of Former U.S. Special Counsel, who is defending his criminal investigations
of Donald Trump before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
We'll have more on that after the break. Plus, big bears, big appetites, and one big title. The furry contenders battling it out in Fat Bear Week
just ahead.
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ASHER: All right, welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher in New York. Here are some of the headlines we are watching for you today. The heads of
some of the biggest names in artificial intelligence are among those expected to join the U.S. President and House Speaker Mike Johnson at the
White House in the next hour.
This follows several incidents of AI agents going rogue over the summer, fueling further fears about AI safety from Silicon Valley to Washington.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says it's clear a foreign actor was involved in a suspected terror plot uncovered in the U.K. over the weekend.
Five men were arrested near a military base early Sunday. They've now been released on bail, a decision that drew criticism from President Trump,
Fairford Air Base, where the men were detained, has now been, or has been used rather, to launch by the U.S., excuse me to launch strikes on Iran.
And Lindsay Clancy made her first appearance in court today since a judge declared a mistrial in her triple murder case. Clancy's attorneys have
filed a motion to dismiss the charges on double jeopardy grounds. Judge William Sullivan has set a November 2nd hearing on that particular issue.
And Jack Smith, the Former U.S. Special Counsel, is testifying right now before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Republican-dominated committee
says the hearing will examine what it calls Smith's abuse of authority and targeting of Republicans. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley opened by
accusing Smith of running a partisan investigation.
Smith told the committee he would not be silenced by threats. For more on this hearing, let's bring in CNN's Evan Perez joining us live now from
Capitol Hill. One of the things that Jack Smith has talked about, Evan, is this idea that he completely stands by his decision to bring charges
against the U.S. President, arguing that his investigations develop proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump, in his words, did engage in
some degree of criminal activity.
Take us through it, Evan.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. He is not backing down from any of the actions that were taken during the two
investigations that he oversaw, including, of course, the one into the president's effort to overturn the 2020 election results and the classified
documents case that was also investigated.
You know, it's important to note that you know Republicans here are part of the job that they're trying to do is of what they're trying the effort here
is to reframe everything that happened, including what happened on January 6th, and to paint this as an effort to investigate Republicans.
And what you'll hear from Smith, what we've heard from Smith today, is that politics had no role in what he was doing, he says. And take a listen to
some of his opening statement, where he stands by the actions that were taken.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK SMITH, FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL: I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including my decision to bring charges against President Trump. I
made those decisions without regard to President Trump's political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 presidential
election.
Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation, if asked whether to
prosecute a former president today based on the same facts, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PEREZ: So, with that, with those words, what we're hearing from Republicans in this room right now is really a focus on things like, for instance, the
subpoena of phone toll records. These are records showing who was called, when it was called. Not any content, but some of the senators here are very
angry about it, and they believe that Smith was targeting Republicans unfairly, partisan targeting, essentially.
What we -- one of the things that that is limiting what Jack Smith can talk about is the fact that you know there's a couple of things. He is under
investigation by the current Justice Department. They're doing an investigation into whether there was any illegal targeting of the president
and his allies under Smith.
And also, the fact that there's a judge in Florida, Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw the classified documents case. She has essentially stopped
Smith from discussing any parts of his report on the classified documents case. He's not allowed to talk about things that were in that report.
And he can't answer questions about some of the actions that were taken, and so Republicans, I think, are very frustrated with some of the answers
that he's able to give, Zain.
ASHER: All right, Evan Perez, live for us there. Thank you so much.
PEREZ: Thanks.
[11:35:00]
ASHER: Iran's Foreign Minister is making it clear Iran's position on its nuclear program has not changed, despite a U.S. official suggesting the
Iranians might give some ground. Speaking to state-run media earlier, Abbas Araghchi ruled against making any compromises.
He said the only issue for negotiation right now is reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and then only if Iran's conditions are actually met. Iran's
Revolutionary Guard, however, is speaking in much blunter terms. A spokesperson claiming that if Americans were aware of the current reality,
they would put pressure on what he calls their lying administration.
Meantime, more than 100 Israeli settlers rioted in a village in the occupied West Bank early Tuesday, de railing a planned operation to return
a Palestinian family to the home that they had been driven out of. The settlers blocked roads, set fire to buildings and cars, and threw rocks at
security forces, injuring three officers.
It comes less than a week after the Israeli Prime Minister spoke at the U.N., downplaying settler violence, which he described as the work of a few
juvenile delinquents. CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us live now from Jerusalem. The fact that you have this going on, the fact that you have
this these riots taking place, blocking a planned return of a Palestinian family.
What does that tell us about the balance of power right now in the West Bank? And what are -- what is the Israeli government actually doing to get
the situation under control? Not just this particular situation, but broader violence in the West Bank in general, Jeremy.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, as you know, this really is just the latest of hundreds of incidents that we've been
witnessing lately in the occupied West Bank of Israeli settler violence directed at Palestinian residents, aimed at intimidating them and trying to
force them from their homes.
In what -- in the incident that happened last night, this was actually the second time that this Tubasi family in the village of Jalud in the West
Bank were forced to flee their homes. This time, they had been accompanied back to their home about two months after settlers had forced them out.
The Israeli military was escorting them back to their homes following an Israeli Supreme Court order, but only moments after they were able to
return to their homes, more than 100 Israeli settlers descended on this home, pelting it with rocks. Some of them then stormed into the house,
attacking the family, attacking Israeli border police officers who were trying to protect them, and also ultimately setting fire to the home as
well as a vehicle that was owned by this family.
The Israeli military and border police ultimately needed to rush this family into an armored vehicle to get them out of the area, and
subsequently apprehended at least two of the more than 100 Israeli settlers who were attacking this home overnight. The Israeli military has made clear
that this is unacceptable, that this is something that they're going to continue to target.
But what we have witnessed is the Israeli military's failure, repeated failure, to contain this issue of settler violence, specifically in this
area, but also more broadly across the West Bank, and a lot of that has to do with the directives that they are getting from Israel's political
leadership.
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned this violence last night, but he once again sought to downplaying it, saying that this was the
action of just a handful of rioters, even though the Israeli military said there were more than 100 Israeli settlers who attacked this home.
Beyond that, we know that this prime minister and his right-wing government have removed tools, law enforcement tools, from the Israeli military and
the Israeli domestic intelligence service, the Shin Bet to go after settler violence in the West Bank, and they've of course also allowed for a record
number of approvals of illegal Israeli outposts in the West Bank.
And this is an issue that's certainly playing into the Israeli election campaign that's happening right now. Gadi Eisenkot, the primary leader of
the opposition candidates in this election, he slammed condemned this violence. But what he also said was that this is anarchy and loss of
control.
That is, quote, not a malfunction and not a mistake, but a direct result of a dangerous policy that he says is being run by Benjamin Netanyahu, Zain.
ASHER: Jeremy Diamond, live for us there. Thank you for that. Right, we'll be right back with more after this short break.
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[11:40:00]
ASHER: All right, on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, scenes for some of the world's biggest stories are being built piece by piece. As we
continue our "African Inc." series, Adefemi Akinsanya goes behind the scenes of the production company building the sets for some of your
favorite shows and films.
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ADEFEMI AKINSANYA, CNN HOST, AFRICA INC.: Cape Town Film Studio stages have hosted everything from the "Tomb Raider" to "Black Sails", "Long Walk to
Freedom", and most recently "One Piece".
AKINSANYA (voice-over): Produced by LA-based Tomorrow Studios, its local service partner is Film Afrika, the powerhouse behind global titles like
"Black Sails", "Raised by Wolves", and HBO's "Industry", founded in the wake of South Africa's first democratic election, they've brought over 50
international productions to this country, contributing an estimated 1.5 billion rand a year in foreign investment and 1,600 jobs for South
Africans.
PEPSI POKANE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF FILM AFRIKA: We've done north of about 125 films and TV series, and the budget ranges are, you know, from a
million-dollar film to 100-million-dollar TV series.
AKINSANYA: Who are your biggest clients? And please don't be shy. Name drop as much as you like.
POKANE: Everybody. So, we work a lot with the studios. So, we've done work with Disney. We've done work with MRC. We've done Lionsgate. We've done
work with Paramount, and then we work with the streamers. We've done a lot of work with Amazon, Netflix.
AKINSANYA: I mean, you talk to us about how you execute everything, whether it's a smaller budget production or millions of dollars.
POKANE: Well, you spend the money you have, so I think the principles are the same, the structure is the same. So cost is incredibly important now,
and there's a massive price sensitivity, and I don't see that going. I think that's going to get worse as opposed to getting better.
I think more and more the people that finance the industry, Wall Street and you know stock exchanges and the insurance companies and investors are now.
It's not good enough to have subscribers. It's not good enough to have top talent attached. It's not good enough to have a beautiful product.
They're looking at like the commercial output and saying, does this make sense?
AKINSANYA (voice-over): To see how that scale translates on the ground, Line Producer Marisa Sonemann-Turner took us inside one of Hollywood's most
heavily guarded sets.
MARIA SONEMANN-TURNER, LINE PRODUCER OF FILM AFRIKA: So, basically, this was built on "Black Sails", and it was a it was a beautiful footprint that
we had to expand on for "One Piece". So, season two of "One Piece", there are two episodes. They're called Little Garden, and Little Garden is this
giant's playground.
[11:45:00]
And the whole idea is that we come into this jungle with all these strange creatures, these incredible plants. We have a beautiful beach tank over
there.
AKINSANYA (voice-over): Speeding across the studio lot, most sound stages are strictly off limits to protect upcoming storylines. But deep in the
back lot sits a set impossible to hide, the massive signature pirate ship, the Going Merry. In front of the iconic vessel, we continued our
conversation on the industrial scale required to power a global show.
SONEMANN-TURNER: The -- I think the biggest driver is the size of -- I mean obviously the size of the show is impacts on the size of the crew. You know
we've been in a very fortunate position where a lot of the television series that we are involved in a budget range where we can allow for quite
big crews in order to facilitate what is required.
Season one, season two of "One Piece" had almost 1500 crew members on full time.
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ASHER: All right, it is time to get chunky for Alaska's brown bears packing all the pounds could help them stay alive during winter hibernation. Every
fall, ranges at Alaska's Katmai National Park track the bears as they bulk up on salmon for the winter. The chunkier the bear, the better.
Now the public gets to decide who's the fattest of them all. That's right, it is Fat Bear Week. Joining me live now from Alaska's Katmai National
Park, and preserve is Ranger Sarah Bruce. Sarah, good to have you on the show.
SARAH BRUCE, PARK RANGER, KATMAI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE: Yeah, thanks for having me.
ASHER: So we are, as I understand it, down to the last two. We're down to the last two bears, 910 Dancing Queen and 89 Backpack. Who is your
favorite? Who are you putting your money on, Sarah?
BRUCE: Oh gosh. I -- when I am in uniform, I do not have a favorite.
ASHER: OK.
BRUCE: I am rooting for both of them. I am just so glad that we have a healthy ecosystem supporting these healthy fat bears. So, the fat -- the
fatter bears we have, the better. And their prize, their success is surviving another winter's hibernation.
ASHER: OK.
BRUCE: So yeah, I'm rooting for them both.
ASHER: Yeah. So, you're completely neutral. You don't have a personal favorite. But I was asking our producer where do these names come from?
Dancing Queen, Backpack. Last year was won by Chunk. That makes sense. And then Grazer in 2024.
[11:50:00]
BRUCE: Yeah. So, some of the names came from a bear monitor who keeps track of the bears all season long, keeps track of when they return each season
after winter, and collects other data as well. And the Park Service has actually since stopped using names for the bears.
We want to keep anthropomorphism of the bears as low as possible. These are wild brown bears, so we don't want folks to get too cozy with them by
thinking that they have names.
ASHER: OK. That makes sense.
BRUCE: And some of the nicknames do come from audience members, so yeah, that's kind of the gist of the naming.
ASHER: OK, so I'm going to actually refer to them by numbers now, since we're not using names anymore. So, 910, and 89 are in the running still
now. But what happened to number 32, who won in 2025? That was last year, and then one. I want to say the names, but I can't.
OK, what happened to 128, who won the --
BRUCE: 128. Yeah.
ASHER: Yeah. Where are they now?
BRUCE: They are both still very fat.
ASHER: It's good to know.
BRUCE: 32, he was knocked out in the first round of voting, but he's still super fat. He's on the river, and then 128 has also been on the river as
well. But she didn't show up for her after or fat photo, so we weren't able to include her in the contest. And we think we -- you know, there's a ton
of salmon streams in Katmai National Park and Preserve.
So, she was at another salmon stream eating all fall, and we think she's come back to the Brooks River now.
ASHER: So, we did have an upset in terms of one of the previous runners being knocked out in the first round. Talk to us about whether or not you
know, we're watching sort of images now, video of Katmai National Park and seeing some of these bear. I mean, can people see their personality show up
when you watch them on these webcam videos?
BRUCE: Yeah -- the bears definitely have their own demeanors, just like a dog might. Some of them are more dominant. Some of them choose to like
maybe they don't choose, but they're less dominant. Their battles and what they want to fight for and all that kind of stuff.
And then we have some mother bears who are super fierce and very protective, and then others who are a little bit more laid back and keep
away from the more crowded areas of the river, so you can definitely see some of their demeanor, their temperament coming out as you watch the
bears.
ASHER: Yeah, who's more outgoing and who's a bit more reserved? So, just you brought up something in the in the first answer that's a little bit
more serious and I think important. There is an educational aspect to all of this. I mean, I think it's so cute that it's modeled like a March
Madness sports bracket, but it is to sort of bring awareness to the healthy ecosystem at Katmai National Park.
I mean, the fact that these bears do get so much bigger is actually a good and healthy thing. Just talk to us about that.
BRUCE: Absolutely, a fat bear is an indicator that the ecosystem is healthy. The reason for the season is the salmon. So, these bears are
eating sockeye salmon that come from Bristol Bay, and they, the salmon feed the entire forest. They feed the bears. They feed people.
You can literally find traces of salmon in the trees as well, so they're feeding everything in the ecosystem. And without salmon, we would not have
a healthy ecosystem. And it's all interconnected, from the salmon that spend time in the ocean to the birds that Arctic to the Antarctic every
year.
Everything is interconnected, and the bears are just one indicator of a healthy ecosystem. So that's why we're celebrating.
ASHER: And finally, how does -- how did this tradition start? I mean, I think it's so. I had no idea about it until my producer told me about it. I
understand that it's been about a decade, but just tell us how it started. I think it's adorable.
BRUCE: Yeah, in 2014, a park ranger named Mike Fitz. He now is still very involved in Fat Bear Week with our partner organization, Explore.org.
ASHER: OK.
BRUCE: He saw a fan online post a photo of a bear in early summer and in late summer, and he was like, oh, we should you know, put this on social
media. It was back in 2014. Social media was very different back then. And so, people were able to cast their vote with their like on social media on
which bear had gained the most weight or looked the most fat from the beginning and the end of the season.
And then it just kind of continued to grow year after year, and now it's worldwide, which is incredible. We love being able to have this almost
inaccessible park be accessible through these web cameras.
ASHER: Yeah.
BRUCE: And you can witness Katmai through just an internet connection.
[11:55:00]
So, yeah, it's really cool.
ASHER: Oh my God. I'm watching pictures of them now. Like I don't think you can see what I'm seeing, but they're just so adorable. And but as you point
out, it's not a good idea to name them because they are brown bears.
BRUCE: Yes.
ASHER: And therefore, you don't want people sort of getting too cozy with them or you know being aware that they are obviously quite dangerous. But
Sarah Bruce, thank you so much for joining us on this very fun story. We appreciate it, and a very special thank you to Explore.org and Katmai
National Park for their materials, which we used just there showcasing the fat bears.
Sarah Bruce, thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right, from fat bears to noisy birds, scientists have identified two birds they say could be the
world's noisiest. OK, that was loud. A University of Massachusetts Amherst Professor and his former graduate student have found two contenders for the
world's loudest bird, the Bare-throated bellbird, who was matched by the Red-legged seriema.
The new study was published in Evolution and deals with understanding how a bird's physical characteristics can help predict how loud its call will be.
Both of the birds' calls were above 120 peak decibels, louder than standing chainsaws or jackhammers, by the way.
All right, nice way to end the show with a little bit of nature there. Stay with CNN. There is more "One World" with my colleague Bianna Golodryga
after the short break.
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