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Trump Meets with Syrian President; U.S. and Qatari Leaders Sign Agreements; U.S. and Israeli Teams Hold Hostage/Ceasefire Talks in Doha; Zelenskyy Insists Peace Talks Must Involve Putin Himself; Cassie Ventura Back on the Stand in Combs Trial. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired May 14, 2025 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[10:00:00]

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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Welcome back. This is the second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD, a special show from Doha. I'm Becky Anderson.

President Trump has arrived in Qatar on the second leg of his trip to the Middle East. The time here, just after 5 pm. And right now, the U.S.

president is rubbing elbows with top officials here in Qatar and the level of fanfare so far has been well through the roof.

Donald Trump was ushered in with Cybertrucks and mounted camels as he arrived from Riyadh earlier in Saudi Arabia. He spoke to GCC leaders at a

meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council and met with the new Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, after revealing that the U.S. would lift

sanctions on Syria.

Mr. Trump sharing some of his impressions from that meeting earlier on Air Force One.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: How did you find the Syrian president?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Great.

I think very good, young, attractive guy, tough guy. You know, strong past, very strong past, fighter.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Does that worry you?

TRUMP: He's got a -- he's got a real shot at pulling it together. I spoke with President Erdogan, who I'm very friendly with. And he feels he's got a

shot at doing a good job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So the president was willing to go into that meeting at the urging of the Saudis and others here in the Middle East.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Right. Well, our senior White House reporter, Betsy Klein, is with me. But let me just get you some live pictures here from

Doha. It's just after 5 pm, as I said.

And you can see Donald Trump there with the emir. And as I understand it, this is the signing of a very big deal between Qatar and the U.S. As I

understand it, this involves the purchase of some 100 Boeing aircraft. This was something that was expected and this was teed up ahead of this trip.

This trip perhaps less about business and investment and more about regional politics. But certainly there are some economic wins in this.

Let's listen in as these announcements are made.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For defense affairs and on behalf of the United States of America by the honorable Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense of

the United States of America.

Firstly, a letter, a statement of intent on defense cooperation between the State of Qatar and the United States of America.

(AUDIO GAP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Secondly, a letter of offer and acceptance for MQ-9B aircrafts.

(APPLAUSE)

(OFF MIKE COMMENTS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And a letter of offer and acceptance SS lids (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who is one who --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

It is my honor to announce the signing of a joint declaration of cooperation between the State of Qatar and the United States of America,

signed on behalf of the State of Qatar by His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, emir of the State of Qatar and the honorable Donald J.

Trump, President of the United States of America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- the nation of Qatar is --

ANDERSON: Well, Qatar, of course, is the Gulf Arab nation with the most formalized security ties with the U.S. It hosts the biggest U.S. military

installation in the Middle East, which the State Department describes as indispensable for U.S. military operations in the region.

And last year, the U.S. quietly reaching an agreement that extends its military presence in what is this sprawling base in Qatar for another 10

years. It also amended 1992 defense cooperation agreement with the U.S. which is meant to further strengthen their security partnerships.

[10:05:02]

So the defense partnerships, the security partnerships between these two countries are deep, relatively formalized and more sort of on the business

and investment side of that coming in today as well.

Doha maintains close relations with this new U.S. president, relations that are much improved since Donald Trump's first trip to the region and his

first presidency, of course. I think I'm right in saying that this is the first sitting U.S. president to officially visit Qatar. And I think the

emir mentioning that in the meeting that he had with the president earlier on today.

What do you make of what we're hearing?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think it's really remarkable to see president Trump here. He came to this trip -- I think it

was really being cast by the White House as a trip aimed at sealing some economic deals.

But it's really turned into more of a diplomatic trip. And we're seeing that with some of these agreements that are being announced right now as

well as the announcement that he was going to lift those sanctions on Syria.

Such a significant foreign policy announcement, his meeting and willingness to establish normalized relations with Syria, I think, really underscores

that this is a more serious diplomatic trip than the White House had initially telegraphed.

ANDERSON: And while I think many will argue that the U.S. president has gifted the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, the sort of -- the

moment in time in these sort of normalizing relations, dropping sanctions on Syria.

It is this country that has been quietly behind the scenes, extending support to Syria now for some time. I think it was just last month that

they got the U.S. to lift certain sanctions, to allow Qatar to actually pay some of the wages to civil servants, to try and get this failed economy of

Syria back on its feet.

A revitalized Syrian economy, of course, is very good for this region. Let's have a listen to what Donald Trump is saying here in Qatar.

TRUMP: We have the best equipment anywhere in the world. You're buying a lot of that equipment, actually and I think we're going to see some of it

in action tomorrow at the -- we won't call it an airfare but it's going to be sort of an airfare. We're going to be shown a display. That's going to

be incredible.

They have got the latest and the greatest of our planes and just about everything else. So I think it's going to be a lot of fun and very

interesting. But I just want to thank you for the friendship, for the long time friendship.

And, again, long before any of this stuff, we just liked each other. That's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. But we always had a very special

relationship.

And we came from Saudi Arabia where we have another great man over there that's a friend of yours and you two guys get along so well and like each

other. You sort of remind me a little bit of each other if you want to know the truth, both tall, handsome guys that happen to be very smart. But he's

also a very special guy.

And it's good to see all the relationships forming in the Middle East, because the Middle East is really being talked about all over the world.

And we're having a lot to do with it. We're helping a lot but they're doing a tremendous job.

So I just want to thank everybody very much for being here. I want to thank the media. The media's been very fair actually and it's great honor to be

with you. This is -- you take a look at this room, this room is the real deal.

That's called white marble. It's very hard to buy. Believe me, I know very well because you try to buy it and you can't buy it. And you just take a

look at what you have here. It's been incredible what you've been able to build as a nation. And we're with you all the way and you know that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. The ceremony has now come to an end.

(OFF MIKE COMMENTS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Typically, partisan differences tend to get left --

ANDERSON: Well, I have to say that was a relatively short ceremony, given what we have seen over the last, what, 36 hours in Riyadh, where I think

I'm right in saying we saw three speeches somewhat off the cuff on one of them by the U.S. president.

He does somewhat, you know, he's got a somewhat sort of liberal use of the term "special relationship." It used to be kept for this sort of U.S.-U.K.

relationship but he but he's ofttimes, it seems over the past 36 hours, talking about special relationships that he has with these Gulf nations.

Also talking about, you know, how good-looking these leaders are and how strong they are, sort of Trump fashion, I guess.

In his latest analysis online, CNN Politics senior reporter and friend of the show, Stephen Collinson, writes about the second leg of president

Trump's Middle East trip, quote, "The White House is emphasizing Trump's tour as primarily an economic mission.

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"But the interlocking nature of U.S. economic and security policy will be emphasized in his stop in Qatar. This is a country," Stephen writes, "that

defines the term 'punching above its weight' to guarantee its safety.

"In a violent region plagued by border conflict, it's made itself indispensable to the U.S. and its allies."

And Stephen joins me now from Washington.

You are making a very good point here that this sort of intersection of business and politics, the White House hoping to really pitch this trip as

a sort of almost purely economics, to sort of fuel the America First policy.

Certainly here, this is a country which has a very strong mediation pillar and is a very useful and indispensable partner, as you rightly point out,

to the U.S. president at this point, Stephen.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, if you look at the list of tasks that Qatar has accomplished on behalf of the U.S., it's quite

extraordinary. Not only are they deeply involved in mediating the release of hostages, for example, in the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

And presumably, if there's ever a peace deal, they would be hugely involved in what comes afterwards in Gaza. But their influence stretches right

throughout the Middle East.

During the U.S. war in Afghanistan, they were a conduit to the U.S. to the Taliban. They played a huge role in facilitating the U.S. evacuation from

Afghanistan at the end of the war during the Biden administration.

But they're active in their own interests. And on behalf of the United States as far away as Venezuela, they got involved to help free some

hostages from the Maduro regime, brought some Americans back to the United States.

And they've been involved in the mediation of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. So what they've done is they've almost

created themselves of this freelance United Nations, almost in an age when international structures and fora are breaking down, to try to make

themselves indispensable.

Obviously, a lot of that is to do with the fact that they are in a very dangerous neighborhood. They need U.S. support and security guarantees,

part of which is fulfilled by that massive air base that you were talking about outside Doha.

ANDERSON: Let me bring in Firas Maksad; Stephen, stand by.

He's the Eurasia Group managing director for the Middle East and a recognized expert on the geopolitics of the Arab Gulf states.

And you and I spoke last Thursday to preview this three-stop tour.

So far has it exceeded expectations?

Would that be a fair description or what's yours?

FIRAS MAKSAD, DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Becky, it was better to be with you in person last week but it's also great to be on the

show again. Thank you.

I think that's fair to say, yes, absolutely. I think much of the focus and rightfully so going into this was on the commercial aspect of Trump's

trillion-dollar tour in the Middle East.

And I think that's certainly the case, as we saw with the signing of agreements, whether it was with Boeing today or $142 billion in defense

deals in Saudi Arabia yesterday, the largest deal ever. There's certainly a very strong commercial component.

But I think Trump has been very careful and very, I would say, keen on unlocking geopolitical successes, too. Certainly the announcement that came

out of Riyadh yesterday about the lifting of sanctions on Syria, which has implications far beyond Syria.

I mean, to borrow an analogy from a friend who's going into the White House, Syria is the row house that sits in the middle of the neighborhood.

Whatever happens in Syria doesn't stay in Syria. So very significant political wins here for president Trump.

And we'll have to wait and see whether in Doha today, hell also be able to unlock, hopefully at a minimum, some aid access to Gaza, that has not been

able to receive any food or aid for the past two months. But even perhaps beyond that, a temporary ceasefire.

ANDERSON: Let's just pause there and discuss Gaza, because I've been told today that there is a high-level Israeli delegation on the ground here in

Doha. Steve Witkoff is here. Adam Boehler, the chief hostage negotiator, is here, famously the first of the Trump administration to get into direct

talks with Hamas.

The second time that happened, of course, we saw the release of the last living American hostage, Edan Alexander, being released just at the

weekend.

So let's just talk about these ongoing talks here now. I think, you know, we should underscore, there is no sort of clear sort of line as to whether

we will get a big announcement on a ceasefire and a hostage deal while we are here.

[10:15:00]

But to your point, the Qataris will be leaning heavily on the U.S. president with his team here on the ground to try and effect some sort of

solution to what is going on.

How do you read that, those current talks, the current atmosphere, including that of the U.S. and Israel here?

MAKSAD: Yes, we're all trying to read the tea leaves. Here's what we know.

President Trump is personally very sensitive to the idea of -- and the images of starving babies and people in Gaza. And so he is personally

invested, at a minimum, in trying to get a deal that would see aid come into that territory.

Another sign to sort of take note of is the fact that the scheduled meeting between the president and the Qatari emir, Sheikh Tamim, today, went for

two hours. It was scheduled for half an hour, went on for two hours. A lot of speculation as to why it went so long.

Was there a phone call that was placed to the Israeli prime minister?

But I think what it safely (ph) tells us is president Trump is that invested in trying to move that deal along.

His envoy, Steve Witkoff, has been in Doha trying to hammer that 11th hour deal; met with the families of the hostages in -- the Israeli hostages who

were flew in for that. So we're seeing a lot of political -- American political capital being invested on this issue.

And honestly, if it doesn't pan out and he doesn't get a deal, I don't think that this is going to, you know, be -- the blowback is going to be on

Qatar on this. I think we've got to look very closely at the changing nature of the relationship between the American president and the Israeli

prime minister.

An unprecedented gap that has opened up between the two men at a time when traditional U.S. foreign policy toward Israel is no daylight between the

two allies. I think it's safe to say that there is daylight and perhaps, if no deal in Doha today on hostages or aid, more daylight to come.

ANDERSON: Stephen, let me bring you back in, because we're talking here about these sort of key mediation files that Qatar has, not least that of

the Israel-Hamas negotiations.

You write in this piece, which is a jolly good read, I have to say -- and I urge our viewers to look at it at home, away from home for the U.S.

president, you write.

And you write this very specifically, "The deft Qatari touch" -- and you're talking there about mediation and all of these files.

"The deft Qatari touch seems to have failed it in the new flap over Air Force One, the offer of a new 747 to bridge the gap until the new

presidential jets come online, was seized upon by critics as a blatant bid to influence the transactional and ethically challenged Donald Trump."

Just explain, if you will.

COLLINSON: Yes. What's really fascinating about this supposed offer by the Qataris to transfer an Air Force One, a jumbo jet, to the Pentagon so it

can be used by Trump during his term, is that, in the United States, almost everybody is against it, apart from the person that really matters. And

that is Donald Trump, who could sign off on this.

Even Republicans on Capitol Hill who are usually supportive of the president point out that this would be a huge security risk.

It would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to strip this plane down, to search for surveillance, the kind of things, the systems that the president

needs -- cladding, for example -- so that Air Force One can stay airborne in the event of a nuclear attack.

All that's going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars at a point where there are already two new Air Force Ones, much delayed and over budget,

that are being transferred and you know, got ready for the president, this president or the next one.

So I think it really gives us a window not just into Trump's view of the world. He wants the prestige of a new aircraft for himself. He said today

that he looks at the aircraft that some of these Gulf leaders and believes that Air Force One, as elegant as it is, is really a downgrade on those

planes.

And on the question of the Qataris, you know, their role has not always been uncontroversial in the United States. They've been very useful to U.S.

presidents in being able to talk to the Taliban or Hamas groups that the United States publicly cannot speak to.

Because they've been in Doha, they've had offices there, have been allowed to stay there. A lot of lawmakers, including Republicans who support Trump,

have been critical of that. They say that the U.S. should sever ties with Qatar because it gives the space for these groups to operate.

[10:20:00]

And there are often accusations that Qatar is not just mediating in some of these conflicts, it's supporting groups like Hamas. So the political

blowback in the United States is not just against Trump but it is against the government of Qatar, too.

So it's going to be very interesting to see how they talk about this offer in public and how they explain it and whether, in the end -- I mean,

politically, to me at least, it's looking increasingly unlikely that this deal for the plane can go ahead. But as I said, it all rests on what Trump

wants. And he's a very powerful figure obviously.

ANDERSON: Stephen, always good to have you.

Firas, it's an absolute pleasure.

Both of you regular guests on this show and always, always so useful with your insight and your analysis. Thank you.

Look, Israel carried out intense bombardments in Gaza overnight, killing more than 50 people in the northern region. The video we are about to show

you is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): You can see the rows of bodies being lined up and identified. A nurse at a local hospital says most of those killed were

women and children from the Jabalya refugee camp. People were given hardly any time to flee. The bombs started falling less than an hour after the IDF

issued evacuation orders for more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Let's get you to CNN's Jeremy Diamond, who is in Jerusalem.

And, Jeremy, all of this follows a strike on a hospital in southern Gaza. You've been reporting that Israel was targeting Mohammed Sinwar.

What more do we know about that?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, we still do not know whether or not Mohammed Sinwar was indeed killed in that strike. It may

take days, perhaps even weeks, for the Israeli military to actually confirm whether or not he was killed.

But we are getting new video, both of the moment of impact as well as the aftermath of these strikes, indicating the possible use of these very large

bunker-buster bombs that left enormous craters, including in the courtyard of the European hospital in Khan Yunis.

At least 28 people were killed in that strike. More than 50 were injured, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. And we are hearing concern

from doctors at that facility about damage to that hospital as a result of that strike, in addition, of course, to the casualties.

Adding to an already rapidly deteriorating situation in Gaza prompted by Israel's more than 10-week-long blockade of the strip, which has allowed no

food, no medical supplies into Gaza.

There was also a series of strikes in northern Gaza, as you said, resulting in more than 50 people who were killed, the majority of whom were children,

according to local hospital officials.

We saw in the aftermath of those strikes, you know, bodies lined up at the morgue and outside the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza. And you can

see among them the bodies of several very small children, including at least one baby carried by his father, in footage from that aftermath.

And so what we are seeing is that, even as these negotiations are now taking place in Doha, including with the Israeli prime minister getting on

the phone, we're told, with Steve Witkoff, president Trump's special envoy.

Even as these negotiations are underway to try and reach some kind of a ceasefire or hostage release deal, Israel is not only continuing but

seemingly intensifying its airstrikes in Gaza.

And also, of course, continuing this total siege of the Gaza Strip, as we have seen just this week, the warning from the leading global authority on

food security saying that famine could happen in Gaza within the coming months. Becky.

ANDERSON: Once again, Jeremy, thank you.

Well, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with a special show from Doha in Qatar. Coming up, with potential peace talks between Russia and Ukraine,

now just a day away, we look at what the leaders who could be there have said about their possible attendance. More on that is after this.

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CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back.

In Doha, a short time ago, U.S. president Donald Trump told CNN that it's possible he could attend potential peace talks between Russia and Ukraine,

saying he doesn't know if Russia's president would show up otherwise.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, meantime, says he will travel to Turkiye on Thursday but insists he will not hold talks with any Russian representative

other than Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin Wednesday says it still won't say who it is sending.

Let's go live to Kyiv. CNN's chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is there for us.

So one day to go, Nick. Time is running out.

How likely is this scenario at this stage where all three leaders will attend these talks?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I mean, the volume of theater, I think, that's generating ahead of these talks

would suggest there is possibly some last-minute negotiation indeed happening.

Yes, you say, it's important to point out all the context to this. This was the response of a demand on Saturday by four European powers in Ukraine for

a 30-day unconditional ceasefire that Russia basically rejected, instead saying, let's have direct Ukraine-Russia talks on Thursday in Istanbul.

Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, upped that and said I'll fly to Ankara to meet the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and then maybe on to

Istanbul if Putin comes as well.

And the emphasis was then essentially from U.S. president Donald Trump. He suggested he'd like to see the two leaders there. He then suggested just

recently that, in fact, he thinks Putin wants him to attend and he might indeed attend to try and stop the killing during the war.

Look, it's remarkable how little we know about the Russian contingent. Indeed, the Kremlin spokesperson saying we're not going to know who's going

until it begins. And in fact, Vladimir Putin just gave an extensive speech after meeting Malaysian leaders and said nothing about it.

So I would possibly read into some of this that the Kremlin have not outright rejected the idea of Putin's attendance. They probably don't want

to keep Trump publicly hanging on like this if it's a simple nonstarter.

And maybe they're trying to engineer some sort of bilateral between Trump and Putin, something, frankly, which didn't seem really on the cards, given

the state of their relationship just yet but maybe expedited by the idea of it being more involved in Trump brokering some kind of Zelenskyy-Putin

meeting.

But remember these three men getting together for the first time isn't going to be roses. You know, Zelenskyy and Putin barely disguise their

contempt for each other. Zelenskyy, Trump's meeting, has been, frankly, mostly rocky, apart from the occasional patch-up we've seen in the past.

And then, of course, Trump and Putin's relationship, one where Trump seemed at times eager not to offend the Kremlin head and Putin potentially

slightly less bothered either way.

So it isn't necessarily, even if it happens, going to yield immediate results. Zelenskyy said to me in a press conference yesterday, he wanted

the minimal goal from that meeting to be a ceasefire. That is something Putin may simply brush aside again, like he has in the past.

But it is hour by hour now. We wait to see if indeed this happens. The Europeans and Ukraine and, at times, Trump as well, have suggested

sanctions may follow. Trump hinted he was still looking at secondary sanctions potentially.

And indeed told our Kaitlan Collins, on board Air Force One just now, that, you know, he was still going to see in the next days ahead whether or not

Putin was really interested in peace.

It's going to come down to the White House having to make a decision as to whether they agree with the Europeans in Ukraine if nothing comes out of

this meeting or the meeting doesn't even happen; that Putin is not serious about peace, that extra heavy sanctions need to kick in, maybe even those

secondary sanctions.

But as of now, I think potentially, as the Kremlin want it, we are all simply waiting on Vladimir Putin's word as to whether or not he's going --

Christina.

[10:30:05]

MACFARLANE: Yes. And it was interesting to hear also U.S. president Donald Trump earlier today saying that he felt he might need to be in attendance

in order to get president Vladimir Putin to commit to coming.

If he does attend, how do you think Trump's presence could possibly change the dynamic tomorrow?

And if Putin himself does not attend, how much of a snub is that to president Trump?

WALSH: Yes, that last part first. I think it is potentially quite a snub to president Trump if Putin hears these repeated suggestions of his arrival

and the sense that Trump would potentially attend and turns the whole thing flat black down.

I think Trump's presence between those two men potentially detracts some of the attention away from the animosity between them.

And essentially, this makes it much more about the Trump-Putin meeting to some degree and exactly what influence Trump can -- Putin can have on

Trump's thinking about the Ukraine war and whether that indeed impacts the essential Zelenskyy-Putin summit that's going to have to come out of this.

It will be a huge, complicating factor. Remember, you know, Zelenskyy and Putin are going to go to this with phenomenally different views of world

history, very different views of exactly what they want to see coming out of the Ukraine conflict and a very specific grasp of the facts themselves.

Trump is not going to have so much of that, yet will be the middleman trying to broker something in a bit of a hurry. He's going to want

potentially results from this. Zelenskyy is going to be very keen not to upset him and possibly, Putin, much less so.

So I think that's the complexity of this meeting, indeed, if it happens. But, of course, you can't mistake the huge potential, really, the potency

of these three men standing together, massively complex ask if that happens. I think to some degree Trump will take that as a win. Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yes, a complex ask and a very important 24 hours ahead as we wait to see who those delegations will be. Nick Paton Walsh there, live

from Kyiv, thank you.

Well, president Donald Trump is on his second stop of his Middle East tour in the wealthy kingdom of Qatar. And after the break, we will return to

Doha and Becky Anderson for more headlines from the region. Stay with us.

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ANDERSON: You're with CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. A special show for you from Doha in Qatar. More now on our top story.

U.S. President Donald Trump has arrived here on the second leg of his three-nation Middle East tour. Mr. Trump has been meeting with the emir of

Qatar just within the past few minutes.

[10:35:00]

The leaders signed agreements that cover defense and Qatar's purchase of Boeing jets. Now this comes in Doha after president Trump met with Syria's

president in Riyadh earlier today and announced plans to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria.

Well, joining me now is Mohammad Ali Shabani. He's a Middle East scholar and editor of Amwaj.media.

Let me start with president Trump pointedly calling out decades of U.S. foreign policy and also European foreign policy in the region. Have a

listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's crucial for the wider world to note this great transformation has not come from Western intervention, no less, or flying people in

beautiful planes, giving you lectures on how to live and how to govern your own affairs.

No, the gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called nation builders, neocons or liberal nonprofits, like those who

spend trillions and trillions of dollars, failing to develop cabal Baghdad (ph). So many other cities instead.

The birth of a modern Middle East has been brought by the people of the region themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Dumping on former U.S. president, it has to be said, there in that speech.

What did you make of it, though?

Because you can read this as a very pragmatic approach to the Middle East and the turning of a page if you will, for U.S.-Middle East policy. Or we

might suggest that may come to nothing, a little more than window dressing.

How do you see what's going on here?

MOHAMMAD ALI SHABANI. MIDDLE EAST SCHOLAR AND EDITOR OF AMWAJ.MEDIA: So Becky, there are a lot of elements to Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, which

I think Iran is paying attention to.

Number one is the rhetoric which you just aired. I think there's a lot to that. I think what the Iranians will say is that's precisely what we did 40

years ago when we overthrew the shah; try to, you know, avoid Western intervention, all that kind of thing. That's on the one hand.

But another section of Trump's speech was about Iran being "at the center of chaos," quote-unquote, in the region. So there is an element of blame.

And I think that has triggered some Iranian officials.

We've seen some harsh statements from top Iranian officials today, saying essentially that the U.S. needs to get realistic about what it can achieve,

et cetera.

But beyond all of that, beyond the rhetoric, I think the number one thing that Iran has been looking at in Saudi Arabia is what Trump's been doing

with Syria. His meeting with the new Syrian president, an individual who is still, to the best of my knowledge, remains sanctioned by the U.N. Security

Council for alleged terrorism.

That's number one. Number two is his willingness to lift sanctions on Syria. Now he's declared a willingness to take such a step, which would be

drastic. But we don't know the specifics of it. We don't know what kind of sanctions he'll be able to lift.

We don't know whether he'll be able to go to Congress to lift the broader sanctions on the entire Syrian economy. And beyond all of that,

additionally, we're now seeing reports that Israel had been asking Trump not to lift sanctions.

If that's actually true, that holds a huge lesson for Iran. It tells Iran to what extent Trump is willing to go to get a deal, to what extent he's

willing to allow Israel to interfere in such a process. Right?

ANDERSON: Mohammed, I'm going to have to leave it there. You're a regular guest on this show and I'll have you back. There is a lot to discuss, not

least the status of these U.S.-Iran talks. I know you're very well-sourced on those.

For the time being, though, today I'm going to have to leave it there. Thank you for joining us.

We're going to get you more news, folks, after this short break.

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MACFARLANE: This hour, the former longtime girlfriend of Sean Diddy Combs is back on the witness stand, facing a second day of questioning in his

federal criminal trial.

During more than four hours of raw and sometimes graphic testimony on Tuesday, Cassie Ventura cried as she described drug-fueled, days-long

sexual encounters with male prostitutes that she claims were orchestrated by Combs.

She also testified that an attack by Combs in 2016 that was caught on hotel surveillance video came after she left one of those encounters early. Well,

today, Ventura again referenced that attack, saying she did not fight back because it would, quote, "make him more violent."

The Menendez brothers now have a chance at freedom after spending 35 years in prison for their parents' murder. On Tuesday, a California judge

resentenced Erik and Lyle Menendez to 50 years to life, a prison term that makes them immediately eligible for parole.

The brothers' case has captivated America for decades. They were convicted for the 1989 murders of Kitty and Jose Menendez at their Beverly Hills

home. The brothers admitted to the murders but have argued they acted in self-defense following years of sexual abuse by their father.

And that is it for a busy two hours on CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Christina Macfarlane. Stay with CNN. "MARKETPLACE ASIA" is up after the break.

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