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Two Killed, Three Hurt in Car Ramming and Stabbing at U.K. Synagogue; Funding Impasse Enters Day Two with No Deal in Sight; Police News Conference on Manchester Synagogue Attack; Trump Unilaterally Upgrades Commitments to Qatar; Moroccans Protest World Cup Spending as Social Services Decline; Intelligent Future: Health Care Industry Embraces AI; Conservationist Jane Goodall Dies at 91.Aired 10-11a ET
Aired October 02, 2025 - 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): Welcome to our second hour of the show from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi. I'm
Becky Anderson, time here just after 6 in the evening.
At any moment now, Republican leaders will be speaking at Capitol Hill with the U.S. government shutdown now in its second day. And I will get you the
very latest on that.
First up, though, our breaking news is from the U.K. Two people were killed in a car ramming and stabbing incident outside a synagogue in Manchester.
Three others were injured in that attack and, in the last hour, police confirmed that the suspect is dead after being shot by officers.
This happened on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism. Prime minister Keir Starmer was attending a security conference in Denmark but
left early.
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KEIR STARMER, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: The attack in Manchester this morning is absolutely shocking and all of our thoughts are with those affected.
I'm on my way back to London. When I arrive, I will chair an emergency COBR meeting. I'm already able to say that additional police assets are being
deployed to synagogues across the country and we will do everything to keep our Jewish community safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Clare Sebastian has the very latest for us from London.
And, Clare, you've been keeping an eye on what we know at this point. So just bring us up to speed, if you will.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So as you saw there, Becky, the prime minister had to cut short his trip to Denmark for this major European
summit. What he said, I think, confirms that this is having ripple effects now around the country.
He's stepping up security at Jewish synagogues and other sites around the country. We've heard from the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, that they are
also doing the same and reviewing security procedures for upcoming events.
Of course, Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the culmination of the high holy days. But there are more events to come. And
so they will be reviewing those arrangements.
We can still see a major police presence at the scene there in Manchester and we now know that, in addition to two members of the public who were
killed in this attack, the suspect is believed to be dead as well. They initially couldn't confirm that, police said, because of suspicious items
on his body and said a bomb disposal was at the scene.
But a little while ago, a loud noise, police say, was heard at the scene. And after that, they were able to confirm that the suspect himself is
indeed dead. There are also three more members of the public who were injured and are in a critical condition.
Look, obviously this is coming at a moment when there is already stepped-up security at Jewish sites. We're coming up to the second anniversary of
October 7th. That has led to major concerns of a rise in anti-Semitic attacks.
Security has been stepped up. It will now be stepped up again. And this is clearly the worst fears of the Jewish community being realized.
One thing I want to point out, though, Becky, is what we're hearing now gives the sense that this could have been a lot worse. The Greater
Manchester police say they are grateful to a member of the public who reported this incident initially. They said it allowed their swift actions
this morning.
Police responded extremely quickly and, as a result, the offender was prevented from going inside the synagogue, where police say a large number
of people were gathered.
The mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, also said earlier this morning that security staff, that already stepped-up security that I just mentioned at
the synagogue, intervened to keep people safe.
So a sense that it could have been a lot worse but obviously a tragic incident. And as I said, the worst fears of the Jewish community being
realized there.
ANDERSON: Yes. And more as we get it. We are expecting to hear from police in Manchester anytime soon. And, of course, we will get more for our
viewers as we get it. Clare, thank you.
Well, U.S. president Donald Trump says he will meet today with his top budget official to decide which federal agencies will face cuts amid this
U.S. government shutdown. The president clearly applying pressure on Democrats, who are, so far, refusing to give way to Republicans over this
funding impasse.
The next Senate vote on a deal to fund the government is expected on Friday. Right now, we're looking at a continued standoff with neither side
ready to give any ground. Public anger over the dysfunction could at some point force a compromise. But we are not there yet.
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries gave the Democratic Party's view. Have a listen.
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REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: This is a serious moment. We need to reopen the government. We need to enact a spending agreement that's
bipartisan, that actually meets the needs of the American people.
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And we need to address the Republican health care crisis.
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ANDERSON: Right. Rene Marsh is standing by for us from Washington.
And, Rene, just how is this shutdown impacting federal agencies and their employees?
RENE MARSH, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so we are day two into this shutdown. And really, there's no end in sight. And the impact is
already being felt by these thousands of federal workers furloughed.
And really just living with this anxiety of not knowing how many paychecks will be missed before Congress strikes a deal to end the shutdown.
I spoke with a furloughed FDA employee who expressed his anxiety and the sentiment that many furloughed federal workers are feeling at this moment.
He spoke to us in his capacity as president of the union that represents FDA employees. Take a listen.
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ANTHONY LEE, FDA EMPLOYEE: We have been traumatized. Many use that word. With the illegal firings, the reductions in force and even the threats of
that occurring during this shutdown has been -- really has angered people.
Not knowing how they're going to pay their next bills, their mortgages and really not being able to continue to deliver the public services.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARSH: And really, within days, access to WIC, which is a federal program that provides healthy food for women, infants and children, could become
uncertain, depending on what state you're in.
We have said but we'll continue to say because it is so important that essential services, like Social Security payments, Medicare payments,
veteran medical care, TSA and air traffic controllers at airports, all of those are considered essential. And those will not be disrupted.
But yesterday we heard from air traffic controllers' union and they warned that these air traffic controllers are in a very intense environment.
They're under high pressure. So asking them to work without pay really is putting the safety of the skies at risk.
Meanwhile, as you mentioned at the top, there, Becky, the president is signaling that the strategy at this point is inflicting pain on federal
workers and Democratic programs, with the White House saying that federal firings are imminent.
And the OMB director, Russ Vought, he has told agencies that they should plan for a reduction in force during this shutdown, which is very different
from what we have seen. It's not the norm to eliminate jobs permanently during a shutdown. They are usually just furloughed.
Russ Vought also announced via social media that he has already made cuts to programs that he says do not align with the Trump administration. In one
of his posts, he says that $8 billion were slashed from climate programs from several Democratic-led states.
So this is just ramping up on top of the fact that Congress has not been able to come to a deal to end the shutdown. The layered problem here for
federal workers is the threat of permanently losing their jobs. Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes. Rene, thank you for getting us up to speed on this.
I want to bring in our contributor, Lulu Garcia-Navarro. She's also "The New York Times" journalist and podcast host.
Good to have you, Lulu.
How long can this blame game go on, do you think?
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, I think for quite some time because, Becky, if you think about what the incentives are here, right, we
in America right now are in a highly polarized environment.
The group of persuadable people on any issue is very, very small and dwindling. People are red hat or blue hat. And so what you see at the
moment is both parties really playing to their strengths and to their base.
So on the Democratic side, they are talking about health care, an issue that they're strong on. And they are responding to a real desire among the
Democratic base to fight this administration in any way that they can. They are completely out of power. And so they say, this is the way that we can
do it.
On the other side, you're seeing the Republicans talking about issues like immigration, things that they are very strong on but also using this to
punish blue states, as we heard there.
Use the federal pursestrings to take away money from New York, where Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, the two Democratic leaders of the House and the
Senate, are based.
And so this is really, I think, going to go on for some time because the group of people who might say, you know what, this is really bad for
everyone, I fear, is really dwindling in America right now.
ANDERSON: It's fascinating. As you speak, we are hearing again and we heard from him yesterday at this time, the House Speaker, Republican Mike
Johnson, flanked by his colleagues there.
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The messaging goes on.
What do you make of what we are hearing from both parties with this shutdown?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: You know, shutdowns are bad for everybody. We know this. I don't know why we have to continue to relearn this message. No one comes
out of a shutdown well, not the party in power, not the party that, you know, precipitates the shutdown.
And so in some ways, this is a whole self-defeating cycle. But if you think about the wider context in which this moment sits is that, you know,
America, actually, right now, the United States is in a very precarious economic situation.
We are seeing a lot of worrying signals in this economy to do with our labor market, to do with inflation. And those are issues that really hit
home for people, regardless of what the partisan jockeying for messaging is.
And we also know that, you know, apart from what it does to federal workers, it hits the economy more broadly. It kind of gums up the works.
And so at this moment, the wider issue is, how will this really affect the American economy and what will be the reaction to that?
The stakes for this are very, very high. And so I actually don't think that messaging from the Democrats or the Republicans at this point is going to
help what eventually is going to happen here, which is people are going to be like, hey, enough is enough. I'm hurting here financially. You've got to
sort this out.
ANDERSON: So to that point, I wonder how or whether you can explain for our viewers how the White House is framing this and where the
administration sees opportunities as well as challenges in all of this.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes. Yes, I think the administration sees opportunities in the sense that, first of all, it's been messaging on illegal immigration,
falsely claiming that the Democrats want to give federal subsidies for health care to migrants who are here without papers.
That is prohibited by federal law. But it's a winning issue for them. And we know that, because of the way that our ecosystems work with information,
that some people might think that that's true. That's the first opportunity they see.
The second one is, frankly, just to take advantage of the moment and do what they were going to do anyway, which is to fire federal workers, which
is to reduce some of the programs which they don't support, particularly to do with climate change and other things and to punish, as we've seen, blue
states.
This has been something that they have been exercising in different ways, whether it be sending the military to blue cities, whether it be trying to
take away money and funding from organizations like Harvard, who they deem to be somehow too woke or too liberal.
And now trying to take away funding from actual states in constituencies where they think that they can exercise pressure. So you know, they have a
lot of leverage. The White House has -- they've shown it.
I mean, this is a White House that is unconstrained in the way that perhaps other White Houses have not been. And so they are acting in their own best
interest and the rest of it be damned. They don't seem to care how this is going to be viewed, what effect it might have on the economy or regular
working people.
They think this is an opportunity for them to remake the country in their image.
ANDERSON: What the White House will care about is midterms this time next year or November next year.
Is this a window of opportunity as they see it, do you think, to carry out, push through power through much of this agenda with an American public who
might not like it?
I mean, it seems to me that the American public neither like what's going on from the Democrat side, nor the Republican side, nor the White House's
side at this point.
But is it that kind of window of opportunity whereby, let's force these things through now, get to the other side of the back end of this year and
start looking at how we win in those midterms November 2026?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I think that's right. I think at this particular moment -- the thing we know about my country is that we tend to have short attention
spans and this might be something that is very much in the rearview mirror by the time the midterms come around, depending on how long it goes and
what the damage really is.
As you know, I mean, we're in the media business. Every day brings something new to kind of focus on and to either be excited by or outraged
by. And so, you know, I think they're probably betting on the fact that, whatever happens here, they are not going to have to suffer the long-term
blame for this.
And so each side, both Democrats and Republicans, are thinking this could be a cudgel that they can use later on.
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But I have to say, the Democrats that I've spoken to don't think they have anything to lose. Let's not forget, they're in a pretty bad situation.
Polling doesn't show them as being very popular.
A lot of people, even though they don't like what's happening in the Trump administration, don't trust Democrats you know, to kind of fix it.
And so this is an issue which is health care, which really is a bipartisan issue, which, you know, polls very well -- Republicans, independents,
Democrats. And by making this their central issue, they're hoping that they can break through.
ANDERSON: It's fascinating and exhausting. But it's always good to have you on to pull it apart and make some sense of what's going on, if we can
describe it as such. Thank you very much indeed, Lulu. Always a pleasure.
Coming up, the U.S. president has made a significant new security pledge to Qatar. What -- we're going to take a look at how it changes the American
relationship with its Gulf ally.
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ANDERSON: Most of the ships in the international aid flotilla that set out to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza have been intercepted by the Israeli
military. Some of the boats appeared to be hit with water cannons.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): These pictures were shared on a live stream by the flotilla organizers. Well, pro-Palestinian protesters turned out in several
cities to demand the release of these activists. The Israeli military says that they will be deported.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, this week, U.S. president Donald Trump unilaterally gave Qatar NATO-like security guarantees in an executive order signed on Monday.
Mr. Trump declared that the U.S. will regard any attack on Qatar as a threat to peace and security of the U.S. Itself.
And it goes on to say, quote, "In the event of such an attack, the United States shall take all lawful and appropriate measures, including
diplomatic, economic and, if necessary, military, to defend the interests of the United States and of the state of Qatar and to restore peace and
stability."
Look, this is huge, not only in the guarantee to Qatar itself but also in the fact that it essentially bypasses Congress for something as serious as
potentially committing the U.S. military to war.
Before I get to my guest, I am being told that there is a press conference being held now in Manchester after the attack there outside a synagogue on
Yom Kippur. Let me get you to that before I get to Firas Maksad, who is standing by to talk.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) this holy day and now grieving and worried about their safety. And I want to be clear, U.K. policing is mobilizing and
it's mobilizing fast. Police forces are stepping up patrols across the country at synagogues and Jewish sites.
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And more widely to provide reassurance to all those communities who have been affected by this incident. Our counterterrorism police, we're
deploying all of our capabilities in response to what has happened. And we have resources from across our network involved.
We will ensure every piece of intelligence and line of inquiry is interrogated. We're working closely with the security services to ensure we
have a full intelligence picture in the coming days and weeks.
Following events in Crumpsall today, I'd also like to ask the public to remain vigilant. Please report anything that doesn't feel right to the
police and be alert to what is happening in your own communities. Thank you.
ANDERSON: Right. That's a press conference, more a statement there by police in Manchester, who are, of course, investigating the synagogue
attack that left two people dead there. And as we get more on that, of course, we will get that to you.
All right. Let me get you back to Firas Maksad, who is standing by for us.
And before I just went to that short sound by the police there in Manchester, we were talking about the extraordinary defense guarantee that
the U.S. has bestowed on the state of Qatar. This is sort of Article V-like NATO guarantee.
This comes, of course, on the heels of the Israeli attack on the Hamas residence in Doha a couple of weeks ago. And that, of course, was a real
wakeup call to the region that I'm in here.
Real concerns about the reliance of U.S. security guarantees that most of these Gulf countries feel they have signed and paid up for.
Firas, a bit of a long introduction to you to get me back on track. It's good to have you, sir. Thank you very much indeed.
Look, I want to deal with this Qatar defense pact with the U.S. I also want to deal with the kind of wider story of, you know, peace and security going
forward in this region. The throughline for that, of course, is the continuing conflict in Gaza. But let's start with this story.
Just how significant do you believe this is?
FIRAS MAKSAD, MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA MANAGING DIRECTOR, EURASIA GROUP: Well, let's get right to it. Yes, very significant story indeed.
Article V-type NATO defense for Qatar, a written commitment by president Trump on the back end of that unprecedented Israeli attack against a GCC
country.
Becky, the region, in terms of its relationship to the U.S., is at a fork in the road and it could go whichever way. Clearly, we saw, as a reaction
to that Israeli attack, Saudi Arabia announcing a mutual defense pact with Pakistan, a fellow Muslim but nuclear power, de facto extending the
Pakistani nuclear umbrella to the GCC.
And here, the region we're witnessing is that the threat perception is shifting. For so long, the threat perception had been focused almost
exclusively on Iran. Israel had never attacked the Gulf before.
And now on the back end of the changing political landscape in the region, on the back end of October 7th, Israel unchecked, crossing and spilling
over its borders.
We're seeing Muslim countries, regional countries starting to come together, not only Saudi Arabia and Pakistan but also importantly Egypt and
Turkiye, which in the past have had their differences, holding naval exercises in the eastern Mediterranean, just off the shores of Israel.
Everybody concerned about this lacking American security umbrella and unwillingness to check Israel. So president Trump here written defense
commitment, Article V-type to Qatar, goes a long way in not only reassuring Qatar but reassuring these Arab allies of America that, in fact, that the
United States will stand by their side.
Key point to watch out for, very quickly, is that landmark visit by the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, that is expected to Washington,
D.C., in November. I would -- I would expect that the Saudis would also want the defense commitment of the one that president Trump just extended
to Qatar.
ANDERSON: Yes. And I would expect the same. It will be interesting to see when that trip is and whether that happens. It will be interesting to see
whether the UAE, where I am, of course, seeks a similar commitment. A source -- not a source, in fact. We had this confirmed.
[10:25:00]
Donald Trump spoke to the emir of Qatar last night, late local time. And as I understand it, that was about the deal, the peace deal, the plan, the
initiative that Donald Trump announced with Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
We know that that plan is now sitting with Hamas and negotiators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye in Doha at this point.
What are you hearing about how those negotiations are doing?
What do you make of the plan?
MAKSAD: Well, I think the plan is significant only because it creates a framework for us to get to a ceasefire in Gaza and then discuss, organize
and move forward on the day after. It doesn't guarantee a ceasefire.
What's important to keep in mind here is that looming deadline. President Trump very much, although he didn't explicitly phrase it that way, would
like to see the deal and would like to see hostages beginning to be released by that second anniversary of October 7th, which is coming up less
than a week from now.
Therefore, that four-day deadline, we're two days into that for Hamas to respond to his initiative. My expectation is that, as difficult as it is
for Hamas, they're going to want to say yes to this, perhaps a qualified yes.
I think it was very important to see Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another one of those factions less important than Hamas but still operational in Gaza,
changed the response from a no or a rejection of the Trump plan to a qualified yes.
I think both sides here, the Israelis, too, are going to want to play out the implementation. Bibi has his very complex domestic consideration,
possibly ahead of early elections next year. So a yes, nonetheless, is what I'm expecting. But a qualified one in which implementation is dragged out,
perhaps by both parties.
ANDERSON: And you do not believe that Benjamin Netanyahu at this point can afford to walk away from this deal, correct?
MAKSAD: He certainly cannot. And that was the view going into this. You remember you and I spoke last week about whether Bibi can be on the other
side of Trump before coming into the Oval Office.
We clearly saw that he not only took ownership of the initiative, he presented it in that presser with president Trump in the most favorable
light for his domestic considerations in terms of what is expected from Hamas.
And again, this is not a surprise when dealing with Bibi Netanyahu. But again, implementation is going to be key. There's 1,000 tripwires when it
comes to implementation.
And it's because this is a general framework of 21 points. It leaves a lot of the details still to be sorted out.
ANDERSON: And just one further question on the issue of Qatar. There has been quite some backlash to the Gulf kingdom, particularly from the
Republican parties and particularly from the MAGA side of the Republican Party when it comes to the U.S. relationship with Qatar.
What's your sense of the depth of Donald Trump's relationship with the kingdom?
He certainly goes out of his way to express his support and commitment to Doha. But as we pointed out at the beginning of this, this was an executive
order that he signed, providing this deepened defense and security pact.
What's your view from there, the lens that you have, sitting as you are in Washington?
MAKSAD: Becky, say what you want of Donald Trump, he's not an ideologue. He's a pragmatist and very much transactional. He's also a master of
managing the various audiences and coalition that sit under that broad MAGA tent.
And you're absolutely correct. Qatar is not popular in many quarters of that coalition. Trump himself repeatedly says he talks to Sheikh Tamim and
says that he ought to be his PR advisor. He's got to do better when it comes to communication, in terms of Qatar, in Washington, D.C.
And so what we saw and what I believe, according to now Israeli reporting, is that president Trump did have a headsup about that Israeli strike in
Doha against these Hamas negotiators. He chose to look the other way, perhaps, because he thought, if it was a success, it is something that can
work to his credit.
It certainly benefits him with certain aspects of the MAGA base. But when Bibi bungled that attack, it was all the downside, none of the upside.
President Trump was very keen on then reassuring the Qataris; in many ways, throwing Bibi under the bus, having him put in that humiliating apology
phone call from the Oval Office to the Qatari prime minister.
[10:30:06]
And so, again, from a domestic point of view, Trump here masterful at managing the various coalitions under his support base, under the MAGA
movement. He gave an -- allowed an attack against Hamas, in Doha.
Nonetheless, he moved very quickly for an apology and to reassure the Qataris with a written executive order, committing the United States to the
defense of Qatar. Overall, I think it's a win for the Qataris, a loss for Bibi and perhaps somebody should be thanking Bibi for what Qatar was able
to get in terms of written defense guarantees.
ANDERSON: And as we're talking geopolitics here, we should also just remind ourselves of the geoeconomics/geotech. Those two align around the
capital power that are -- that is the Sovereign Fund power from this region, Qatar, Saudi and the UAE.
And I saw a forecast on that power. By 2030, it could be as much as $9 trillion. Much of that, of course, is invested in the U.S., also invested
elsewhere around the world. That suits the Donald Trump administration and very specifically this very transactional president.
Good to have you. Always a pleasure. Thank you. When next you are in this region, swing by. Come and see us. Thank you.
Firas in the house. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. There is a lot more ahead. Stay with us.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Right. Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. These are your headlines this hour.
And the U.K. police are treating a deadly incident in Manchester as terrorism. At least two people were killed when a driver rammed his car
into members of the public and then stabbed others. This was all outside a synagogue. Three people suffered serious injuries. The suspect was shot by
firearms officers and is dead.
The attack happened on Yom Kippur, which is the holiest day in the -- of the year in Judaism.
Well, the U.S. government will remain shut down for a second day this Thursday as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle refused to compromise over
funding it.
The Senate vote is due to happen on Friday but no breakthrough is expected before next week. Meanwhile, the White House is heaping on the pressure by
threatening the federal workforce with more layoffs.
Well, a frightening moment on the tarmac at LaGuardia airport. Two Delta Air Lines jets collided while taxiing. The wing of one aircraft slammed
into the cockpit windows of the other; one person injured and taken to hospital.
[10:35:03]
ANDERSON: Let me get you back to the breaking news out of England. Police treating a deadly attack in Manchester in England as terrorism after two
people were killed and several others were injured after an attack outside a synagogue happening on Yom Kippur.
Well, Nic Robertson is on the scene and he joins us now.
What's the latest there, Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, we just heard from the counterterrorism police in London, who say that this is a terrorism
incident and that they have, in this vicinity, we understand, arrested two other people. Details on that, those arrests, we don't have.
The attack itself appeared premeditated, the ramming and then the stabbing. The person driving the car ramming into people, then taking a knife and
jumping out and attacking the people before being surrounded by armed police, who were called in from all across this region here.
The police using a code they rarely use, calling on all armed officers to respond. He, the suspect attacker, refused to respond to their instructions
and was shot. The police say that he is dead. Three other people critically injured.
But what we've been hearing from people around here, who live here, they've been struggling to get details like this and understand precisely what has
happened. There's anger, there's outrage, there's shock here, people have been telling us.
But there's also fear. People have been afraid because of the rise in anti- Semitic attacks here and other places in the U.K. particularly in the cities. They've been afraid of something like this happening.
And this, on the holiest day for them, is the shock that they were living in fear of. So people we've been talking to here saying, look, we've even
been talking about leaving the country. We just don't feel that it's safe. We don't know.
The British prime minister obviously responding to this today, coming back to the U.K. during a security meeting, saying that there will be additional
policing outside of synagogues and other Jewish centers throughout the country. The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, also adding his voice of support.
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SADIQ KHAN, MAYOR OF LONDON: People should be allowed to go about and practice their faith, knowing they're going to be safe. Unfortunately, too
many Jewish Londoners, Jewish people across the country, Jewish people across the globe don't feel that way. And that's heartbreaking.
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ROBERTSON: So here, at least, this area remains cordoned off. It's not clear what the police are doing exactly outside of the synagogue at this
time. But what the police -- what the counterterrorism police chief did say was that they were unable to do more with the body of the suspect attacker
because of concerns about safety.
Now precisely what that means, we don't know. We do know, in scenes of attacks that look similar to this, the police have obviously been concerned
that the attackers involved may have had explosives with them. It's not clear that that's the situation right now.
But the counterterrorism chief saying that it is security concerns that are preventing them getting more information about this alleged attacker,
Becky.
ANDERSON: And we do expect to get a press conference from the police there in Manchester at some point in the next couple of hours. And we will, of
course, get our viewers that, as and when. Nic, for the time being, we'll let you get on with your work. And you know, work to get more, more detail.
Thank you.
Well, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered to share an expert team with European leaders on how to detect and shoot down attack drones.
He was a keynote speaker at a European summit in Copenhagen.
He called recent drone activity in Europe a clear sign that Russia plans on escalating its war with Ukraine. Denmark put a temporary ban on civil drone
flights after suspicious activity last week. At the summit, leaders discussed fortifying a strong and secure Europe amid Russia's war.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Let me get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now.
And Pope Leo has called for global action to tackle climate change. At a conference outside Rome, he said damaging the natural world is incompatible
with the Christian faith.
The pope paid tribute to his predecessor's pronouncements on the environment and has indicated that he will continue Pope Francis' efforts
to draw attention to the climate crisis.
Well, two Delta regional jets collided on a taxiway at New York's LaGuardia airport on Wednesday night. Delta says one plane's wing struck the cockpit
of the other in a low-speed crash, sending one person to hospital. New York Port Authority says operations were not affected.
Morocco is seeing massive anti-government demonstrations across the country. Gen Z protesters are accusing the government of investing billions
to prepare for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, while hospitals and schools in the country are falling apart, they say.
[10:40:07]
Violence is being reported in several cities where jobs are scarce and social services are lacking. Moroccan authorities say some 400 people have
been taken into custody and more than 260 members of law enforcement have been injured.
Well, still ahead, how AI is pushing advancements in cellular therapy and what this means for future research and treatments. More on that is after
this.
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ANDERSON: Well, cutting-edge research at the Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center is advancing cellular therapy and regenerative medicine here in the country
and around the region. I sat down with the executive director to understand how the introduction of AI in these processes will streamline the future of
precision medicine.
Now our conversation is part of CNN's new series, "Intelligent Future," designed to bring together the world's most influential tech pioneers,
industry leaders and local trailblazers to explore how technology is driving humanity's next great leap forward. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: I hear so much about how AI is completely revolutionizing the health care industry. So first question is a very simple one.
Do you have a job going forward?
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: Are you relevant these days in an era of AI?
DR. FATIMA AL-KAABI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ABU DHABI STEM CELLS CENTER: That's a beautiful question.
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AL-KAABI (voice-over): I'm Dr. Fatima al-Kaabi. Thank you for being with us on "Intelligent Future" today.
ANDERSON (voice-over): As executive director of the Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center, you've positioned the ADSCC at the very heart of Abu Dhabi's AI and
biomedical revolution.
Can you just talk briefly about what that health care AI vision is here and how the center fits into that?
AL-KAABI (voice-over): Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center was inaugurated at 2019 with one vision, is to work on cellular regenerative medicine therapies and
all of those immune-mediated kind of therapies that will help cure chronic diseases, diseases that are incurable, rare diseases and so on.
We are focused on creating vaccines for immune disease, for diabetes. We're creating vaccines for cancer. We're creating nanobodies for specific
diseases. And we are also into the anti-aging business.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Which we all love.
AL-KAABI (voice-over): Everybody loves anti-aging, right?
If I will tell you how I envision the future is going to be precision medicine on demand.
What does that mean?
[10:45:00]
A person comes with a specific disease. We can, within the biotechnology and AI technology and what I just mentioned, customize the target protein
or target enzyme or target treatment for the individual alone. So it's an on-demand. It's like you order your treatment.
I foresee in the next five years there will be a major transformation and shift in how things are done.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Dr. Fatima, I am not the first person to have described you as a force of nature. It's really hard to ask a scientist
this but in a very basic way --
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AL-KAABI (voice-over): I try.
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: How is AI powering biomedical research important to the work that you do, surgery, important to the work that you do and clinical
research?
AL-KAABI: With deployment of AI in certain areas, we've been -- we will be able to cut our timeline from three to four years to a year. Some projects,
six months, some projects to a year.
Meaning that, if there is something tangible that is going to come out, it's going to come out very soon to the people and accessibility will be
fast and the people will benefit from it faster.
Number two is going to be the robotics and AI. So this is something that certain institutes in the UAE are starting to deploy. And we are very proud
that neuroscientists are deploying it within the spine surgeries. Oncologists are deploying it and so on.
When it comes to clinical research, we are looking into fast-tracking clinical trials, international clinical trials, into the UAE. I'll give you
an example.
Any regulatory -- regulators, the trials, they need to submit hundreds of papers and it will take a year to two years to approve a clinical trial.
We're working on a system where we are going to automate and use AI to scan all of this within two hours, get all the approvals. Within one week you
will have the approval of conducting a clinical trial.
ANDERSON: You talk or describe AI as a copilot alongside your medical teams.
Will there always be a human in the loop?
AL-KAABI: We're very greedy in science. We want a field, a field that we can do whatever we can within boundaries that are morally acceptable in the
science world.
When I say morally, I -- if you get me a machine that is morally driven, then maybe we will not need scientists. And I don't think this will ever
happen: morals, ethics, judgment, empathy, all these human emotions cannot be taught --
ANDERSON: -- intelligence story.
AL-KAABI: Of course.
ANDERSON: There's a couple of things that, as you speak, occur to me. Many people fear AI could destroy us.
What's your sense?
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AL-KAABI (voice-over): I think AI is going to be a huge boost for us that will take us to the next level into drug discoveries. But it can, it should
be aligned with the right regulation around it in order to apply it in the most ethical way that we can.
ANDERSON (voice-over): So what's happening here in Abu Dhabi to ensure, to your mind, to ensure that the right ethical frameworks, guardrails, safety
regulation is in place?
AL-KAABI: Any AI technology and science and research has to go into a wet lab kind of testing. And we need to make sure that we log our failures, our
biases within the system.
Safety is a feature, is an essential feature. If it didn't tick all of those boxes, it's not -- it's never going to go to the patients. So the
guardrails are there. The ecosystem is there. The mindset is there. The agility, the policies, the investments are there.
What we need now is we need to actually log in what are we starting to do?
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ANDERSON (voice-over): It's really interesting to just give our viewers a sense of the integration of regulation, academia and industry here when it
comes to AI.
From your perspective in the healthcare AI sector, how does that work?
Can you just explain the vision here?
AL-KAABI (voice-over): Let's say -- I'll tell you, for example, we have very high prevalence of cardiovascular disease, right?
Strokes and heart diseases. Currently, the government and the health care system is working into how this data, with the biomarkers that are there
from an AI perspective and reading it, with -- would be translated into preventive measures. So the whole thing now is going from a reactive to a
proactive more of a program.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Patient data is the lifeblood of AI innovation. I think we'd agree. Privacy, of course, for every individual is paramount.
[10:50:05]
AL-KAABI: Absolutely.
ANDERSON: How do you balance privacy protection with fostering the AI breakthroughs that you want to pioneer?
AL-KAABI: Absolutely. That's a beautiful question.
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AL-KAABI (voice-over): The UAE has placed a data protection law that applies to everything in the UAE. So this data protection law is very
strict in order how to deal with certain data and how to anonymize data for it not to be tracked to individual.
And how this data, even if it's going to be used for research, how it goes through a very stringent IRB, ethical committees, in order to get the
proper authority to use certain data.
And also not only that, the extraction of data doesn't happen from a system; it happens through tokens, through blockchain. I think we are lucky
here in the UAE that, from a cybersecurity, we are one of the countries that is minimally targeted because of our stringent policies.
ANDERSON (voice-over): You could be anywhere in the world in 2025.
Are you in the right place?
AL-KAABI: I will go to this technology I just spoke of, of AI fitting perfectly. I think I am perfectly and maybe anchorly (ph) fitted into UAE.
And I wouldn't imagine being anywhere else.
ANDERSON: We'll leave it there. Thank you very much.
AL-KAABI: Thank you.
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ANDERSON: That was part of our series, "Intelligent Future." It isn't the only deep-diving series you can find here on CNN. There's so much content
online and on this channel, including a look at one special artist shaping Japan's esthetic, Takashi Murakami.
CNN got exclusive access to his Tokyo studio as part of our "Seasons" series, to explore how his signature superflat style has bridged luxury
streetwear and digital art and shaped Japan's pop esthetic. And you can find that digital video on the CNN app or on the website.
That's the series, "Seasons," culture curated.
Well, world leaders, activists and former colleagues remembering conservationist Jane Goodall today. After the break, I'll share what she
told me five years ago about fighting for change during dark times.
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ANDERSON: Revolutionary, inspirational, simply a hero, these are just some of the ways that conservationist Jane Goodall is being remembered across
the world after she died on Wednesday at the age of 91.
She was a tireless defender of the natural world and her pioneering work as a primatologist changed the way that scientists study animals. I spoke to
Jane back in 2020. Five years on, her wisdom and advice feel perhaps more pertinent than ever. Have a listen.
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JANE GOODALL, CONSERVATIONIST: Going through very dark times socially, politically and especially environmentally and lots of people are kind of
losing hope because you get this message, "think globally, act locally."
But if you think globally, you get really depressed. So the message is about acting locally and the main message is that each one of us makes some
impact on the planet every single day.
ANDERSON: You've had the most remarkable life.
When all is said and done, Jane, what do you want your legacy to be?
[10:55:00]
Well, I think the legacy, you know, it's a double one. First of all, starting this roots and shoots movement because it's changing the world
every day as we speak. And it's giving young people hope and it's giving them a sense of empowerment.
And secondly, when I'd been two years with the chimps, I knew them all as individuals, saw their amazing behavior, know that they resemble us in
their genetic makeup by 98.6 percent.
And yet I get to Cambridge after two years and many of the professors told me, Jane, you've done everything wrong. The chimps should have numbers and
not names. And you can't talk about them having personalities, minds or emotions because those are unique to us.
Science had to somehow admit that we're not these only separate beings. I was told there was a difference in kind. It's not true. So then they had to
look and say, OK, it's not just the chimpanzees, it's the gorillas. It's the orangutans, it's the baboons, it's the monkeys, it's the elephants,
it's the lions, it's the dogs and the camels, you know.
So it's changed the way science, science today, a student can study animal emotion, study animal personality and there's a flurry of studies on
intellect.
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ANDERSON: What a remarkable lady. Jane Goodall, dead at the age of 91. May she rest in peace.
That's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.
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