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MBS Scores Big Economic Wins during White House Visit; Trump Promises "Some Level of Chips" for Saudi Arabia; Trump Expected to Sign Epstein Bill but Unclear When; Nvidia to Announce Earnings as Fears of AI Bubble Grow; Trump and MBS Deepen U.S.-Saudi Military Ties; Iran Claims No Assessment of Damage at Nuclear Plants; Five ICRC Volunteers Killed in Sudan, Aid Agencies Struggling. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired November 19, 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 the second hour of the show from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi. I'm

Becky Anderson, where the time is just after 7 in the evening. You are more than welcome.

We begin with our top story, Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to Washington. And a day after his White House meeting and black tie dinner

with president Donald Trump, both men are set to attend a Saudi-hosted investment forum underway at the Kennedy Center in Washington.

Now the crown prince coming away from those White House events Tuesday with some big wins, including bilateral agreements on rare earths, to strengthen

economic ties, all without having to accept Saudi normalization with Israel, something that had been a key U.S. demand in the past.

Well, at the White House, the crown prince promised to boost Saudi investment in the U.S. to $1 trillion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN, SAUDI CROWN PRINCE: We are going to increase that $600 billion to almost $1 trillion of investment, real investment and real

opportunity, by details in many areas.

And the agreement that we are signing today in many areas in technology, in AI and in materials, magnets, et cetera, that will create a lot of

investment opportunities.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: So you are doing that now?

You're saying to me now that the $600 billion will be $1 trillion?

BIN SALMAN: Definitely, because what we are signing is to facilitate that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, joining me now live is Hasan Alhasan, senior fellow for Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Good to have you, sir.

And Mohammed Soliman, who is senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

It's nice to have you both.

Mohammed, let's start with you. This was a big win for Mohammed bin Salman or MBS, as he is known.

What's your take on the agreements made and how they strengthen the kingdom?

MOHAMMED SOLIMAN, SENIOR FELLOW, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Becky, this was a clear win for Saudi Arabia. The center of gravity of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian

relationship has changed, has pivoted.

Now we're thinking about Saudi Arabia from AI compute infrastructure. We're thinking about the kingdom as a partner to the United States on crypto (ph)

minerals, mining and processing. And on top of that, a non-NATO ally to the United States. So on every metric, I would say that Riyadh has a home run

with this trip to Washington.

The kingdom has a lot of needs. It wants to change the nature and the foundation of its own political economy. So having a partnership with the

United States on new dimensions of this new economy is extremely important to the crown prince and the Saudi leadership.

ANDERSON: Hasan, there are four pillars, if you will. And I want to talk about those. But before we do -- security, defense, AI, civil nuclear

cooperation and rare earths -- I want you to break those down.

But before I do, just big win from your perspective?

What did you see coming out of that first day?

HASAN ALHASAN, SENIOR FELLOW, MIDDLE EAST POLICY, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: Yes, definitely a series of big wins. I think Saudi

crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has so far been able to bag a strategic defense agreement with the United States.

Now not as ambitious as what he was hoping for during negotiations with the Biden administration. It's not a binding defense treaty. But that, in any

case, would be very difficult to have passed through Senate.

So not a binding defense treaty but nonetheless a strategic defense agreement; an agreement on civil nuclear energy cooperation, which is a

topic that has been stuck for many years now; a major non-NATO ally designation.

And from a security standpoint, perhaps most consequential of all, the approval of the sale of U.S. F-35s, on top of which are obviously advanced,

very advanced U.S.-made fighter jets on top of the agreements you mentioned on critical minerals and AI.

These are very important for the kingdom and I think all the more so important, given the fact that the Saudis have managed to decouple them

from the question of normalizing relations with Israel.

[10:05:02]

Which they're not prepared to do at the moment.

ANDERSON: And that's a really good point and one I want to discuss with both of you. The Biden administration had insisted, right to the very end,

that there was no way that they would decouple normalization from trade and security talks without normalization.

You know, the bilateral deal was going nowhere and it was really important to get that decoupling. And it really, even though the Biden, you know, the

relationship between MBS and the Biden administration actually improved toward the end, it never improved with Joe Biden himself. But it did

improve toward the end.

This decoupling was absolutely crucial, of course, for the kingdom, because it has a very, you know, very principled position when it comes to the

recognition of a Palestinian state.

So to both of you -- and Mohammed, let me start with you, what's the U.S. then getting out of this trip at the end of the day?

SOLIMAN: Let me add on what you said. I think it's a different -- Washington is different Riyadh and different global order. I think the

conversations that we had under Biden administration were still very much tied to energy, energy security, specifically after the Ukraine war.

Today, in 2025, things have changed. One, the needs that we have as the United States is strategically and globally have also changed. We need a

partner that help us with the question of crypto (ph) minerals. This is something that's very energy-intensive, very capital-intensive.

And we also need a geographic location that will be easier to process, to mine and process minerals coming out of Africa. So this where Saudi Arabia

is extremely important.

Two, as I -- as we have spoken about this before in May during the Trump trip to Riyadh, we are compute deficit. We want more compute to supply

emerging markets.

So where are you going to build this compute AI infrastructure?

This is in the Saudi Arabia.

Why is that?

They have energy. They have capital and they have local leadership that's committed to AI buildup. So our needs have changed and Riyadh positioned

itself as a partner of choice on all these new signs of economy.

And on top of that there is great power competition there when it comes to those new layers of the relationship between United States and Saudi

Arabia.

If we're able to work with Saudi Arabia on minerals, on AI, on the space, cyber (ph) could be a force multiplier for American power projection in

markets that we, quite honestly, we did not really have offering to them.

ANDERSON: Hasan, stand by, because I do want to talk very specifically about this AI file and about chips, that crucial component powering the AI

boom, this revolution and the proprietary information that the U.S. has been trying to protect from global competitors, namely China.

Look, I mean, as I'm sure most people watching this show now know, it is American organizations, very specifically Nvidia, that has the monopoly on

these chips, which are absolutely crucial for compute. Here's how the key players answered the tricky question of U.S. export licenses in the Oval

Office yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Have you approved the export licenses for advanced chips to Saudi Arabia?

The export license?

TRUMP: Yes, we are working on that. We're negotiating that right now.

Marco, do you want to talk about that?

Or Scott?

MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I mean, that's part of what the -- we may have announcements on that later today. But that's what

we've been working on is the mechanics by which something like that could be achieved.

And it's part of the broader process, part of this broader engagement and cooperation between our two countries.

TRUMP: Certain levels of chips.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) crown prince, Your Royal Highness, you're talking about $1 trillion of investment.

Could the kingdom continue to do that with oil prices in the mid 60s?

BIN SALMAN: We're not creating a fake opportunities to, you know, please a miracle, please Trump. It's a real opportunities. For example, when you ask

about the AI and the chips, Saudi Arabia have a huge demand, a huge need of computing power.

And we're going to spend, in the short term, around $50 billion by consuming those semiconductors for our needs in Saudi, in Saudi Arabia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, last month I spoke with the CEO of the Saudi-PIF backed AI company, Humain, guys, about that massive demand that the crown prince

referenced.

Humain is in line to reap the benefits of that agreement that Marco Rubio was alluding to. But even three weeks ago, Tareq Amin, who runs Amin,

looked at his professional relationship with U.S. chip manufacturers as a given. Just have a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAREQ AMIN, CEO, HUMAIN: I think we really have created a very intimate relationship with the CEO of all of the key technology companies --

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: And diversified --

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: -- in any one organization.

[10:10:06]

AMIN: Because ultimately it's actually not my choice. A customer might choose AMD to run certain workloads. A customer might want Nvidia for

certain workloads. Qualcomm is really good at edge-use cases and they're evolving to data center chips.

Grok is the lowest cost inferencing chip in the world today. So I want to offer our customer choices. Let them pick. So that's what we did on the

chipsets and the infrastructure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Mohammed, Saudi is in the throes of diversifying its economy away from its dependence on oil. It's making a huge push into AI with these

massive ambitions to be a serious global hub. For that, it needs U.S. cooperation; importantly, of course, these chip exports.

And this meeting, it seemed to me in big part, was MBS asking Trump for the green light.

Is it clear at this point he got what he came for?

SOLIMAN: I think it's a matter of when, not a matter of if. I think the structural advantage of Saudi Arabia to American AI labs and hyperscalers

very clear. And this is why you see this major, major names in the AI ecosystem from chip CEOs to AI lab CEOs attending the dinner yesterday or

on the Riyadh trip with president Trump back in May.

The kingdom offers energy permitting and, on top of that, the cash and willingness to be this compute hub. And also, let me give you numbers to

understand where we are globally.

America has almost 60 gigawatt compute. We need to go up anywhere between 200 to 300 gigawatt compute globally just to keep up with this compute

demand. Everything that you see on the software layer, the application layer of AI. And we cannot really service emerging markets.

So who is going to be servicing Africa and southeast -- South Asia and the Middle East? This is where Saudi Arabia comes in and say, well, we want to

be this compute hub for American hyperscalers, working with American companies to be that location.

And I believe that crown prince made the case very clear. He said we have compute demand and we want to make Saudi Arabia foundational to this

infrastructure.

ANDERSON: Yes.

And Hasan, Humain has held conversations with U.S. investors and tech companies about building data center facilities tailored for AI.

Is what came out of this trip, do you believe, enough for Saudi's vision or will the kingdom still need to turn elsewhere?

You know, at this point, I don't think anybody believes it's turning its back on its relationship with China. But this trip clearly a big effort,

you know, for the crown prince to underscore what is a very deepening relationship with the United States.

Where do you see, I guess what I'm asking is, where do you see the kingdom standing on this great U.S.-China power play at this point?

ALHASAN: Yes, I think we have to recognize that there's a lot we don't know, actually, at this stage about exactly what Saudi Arabia has been able

to obtain vis-a-vis U.S. approvals of the exports of advanced Nvidia semiconductors and chips to Saudi Arabia.

Now we know that there is some approval that seems to be in the works. But we don't know how sophisticated those chips are. We don't know how quickly

they will be delivered. And we don't know at what scale.

So there's still quite a bit that we don't exactly know. But I think the important thing to keep in mind here is that this is not purely a U.S.

concession for Saudi Arabia. There is, I think, mutual benefit in this relationship, partly because U.S. companies like Nvidia need to be able to

sell chips.

They need to generate revenues to continue funding advanced research in this area, which is a very fast-moving area and where they face immense

competition from China but also from other semiconductor manufacturers in Asia.

It's also, I think, quite obvious that U.S. companies will require capital investment from capital-abundant countries like Saudi Arabia that will be

able to finance the construction and the investments needed in building data centers and expanding electricity grid capacity.

And they'll also obviously need a platform to be able to engage emerging markets in the Middle East, in Asia and in Africa, which Saudi Arabia is

very well positioned to offer.

So this is a win-win arrangement in a sense. There is mutual benefit here. And I think it's important to keep in mind the broad shift we have seen in

the U.S. approach to how it attempts to secure leadership in AI.

[10:15:04]

A stark break with the Biden-era policy of trying to deny access and instead trying to universalize, in a sense, U.S. technology, U.S.

standards, U.S. stack on AI and essentially to try and gain as much market share as possible.

So I think the U.S. has just as much of an interest not to lose ambitious players like Saudi Arabia and the UAE to other competitors like China by

unreasonably withholding sales and exports of chips.

So I think it's important to recognize, A, that there's still quite a bit that we don't know, tangibly what has come out of this trip but, B, that we

recognize that this is a mutually beneficial arrangement and not simply a U.S. concession.

ANDERSON: Yes.

Good to have you both. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.

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ANDERSON: Well, to our breaking news on the war in Ukraine, a source tells us the Trump administration has been quietly hammering out a new peace plan

with Russia to end the war.

There are ongoing high-level contacts between U.S. and Russian officials and the source says U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is leading the effort.

Axios first reported the development and the Kremlin now playing down the report.

When asked about it, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that there are, quote, "no new developments" to report so far regarding an end to the

war. CNN's Clare Sebastian following this story for us and she joins us now.

What more do we know about the details of any plan?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Becky, it's about a month now since we saw the administration announce plans for a high-level summit

between Trump and Putin in Budapest and then abruptly shelved them, saying that not enough progress had been made. Russia was not ready to compromise.

It's not really clear at this point what has changed from that. What we know, a source familiar with the matter in the U.S. has told us that there

are talks going on behind the scenes toward a new peace plan.

Russian sources have also said that high-level talks are happening, including Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff. So we're certainly not back

at the leader level and we don't know what progress has been made.

And we're still, at this point, where we have this bilateral track between Russia and the U.S. and we don't know exactly what the Ukrainian

involvement will be. And meanwhile, we have president Zelenskyy in Ankara today, on his own mission in Turkiye, to try to revive, reinvigorate, as he

put it, negotiations.

Turkiye has facilitated three rounds of direct U.S.-Russia talks so far this year, albeit at a low level. So that is where we are. It seems that

they're going to pursue a similar tack that they have before.

And certainly if we look at Russian actions with this massive combined drone and missile attack on Ukraine overnight, it seems clear, at the very

least, that Russia still does not intend to agree to a ceasefire before restarting negotiations. Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes, it's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed.

Well, Donald Trump says he will sign the Epstein files bill just days after denouncing it as a hoax (ph). We're going to dig into the implications of

what could be one of the president's worst political defeats.

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ANDERSON: Well, breaking news to bring you from Washington. We have just gotten word that the U.S. Senate has officially sent the bill requiring the

Justice Department to release its Epstein case files to president Trump for approval.

The bill got an avalanche of support in Congress with only one vote against. It's something that was unthinkable even a week ago. Lawmakers

ultimately bowing to pressure from survivors of Epstein's abuse and president Trump dropping his resistance after a revolt in his own party.

CNN Politics senior reporter Stephen Collinson calls this vindication for Epstein's victims "a spectacular defeat" for president Trump. He joins me

now.

We don't yet know if president Trump will sign the bill. He said that he would.

So I guess it does beg the question, would not signing the bill be even more damaging from -- for him, Stephen, at this point?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it would, because I think the size of the congressional majority is 427-1 in the House. It was

sent through by unanimous consent in the Senate, means that there would be a veto-proof majority if the president went down that step.

And Trump could -- the veto would -- Trump's veto would be overthrown. Theoretically, a president doesn't have to sign a bill. The Constitution

says that, if he doesn't sign it, it becomes law anyway, after 10 days, excepting Sundays. So he could do that.

I think if the strategy here is delay and obstruction, Trump is far more likely to achieve that through maneuverings by the Justice Department,

which he controls very tightly, rather than pushing this back to Congress.

Because Congress has shown that it wants absolutely none of this hot potato.

ANDERSON: This bill has passed with a near unanimous vote from both the House and the Senate. That's an unprecedented level of unity from both

parties, particularly in 2025.

Was it GOP party swayed to this?

COLLINSON: Yes. This was the first time really, across the span of two presidencies, that Trump got such a rebuke from the Republican Party. I

think a lot of this has to do with the fact that the Epstein saga really became a politically salient issue in the Republican base.

There is a lot of obsession about it for years on the conspiratorial corners of conservative media. Some conservative politicians have made a

big deal about this.

That was why Trump and his attorney general, Pam Bondi, said they would release these files. And then they went back on it. So that's another

reason why it became a political cause celebre.

But I also think it was significant; toward the end of the summer, we saw a number of survivors of Epstein's abuse become far more public and vocal.

They started going on news shows and holding press conferences with members of Congress. I think that really did make a big difference, to make this

more of a mainstream issue.

And in the end, that might have been the thing that got this over the line and it will be that scrutiny, I think, that gets turned directly on Trump

if he does try to use the Justice Department to create partial disclosures, to release documents that are heavily redacted or tries to keep delaying

this in the hope that it will go away.

Because I think what the events of the last 48 hours have shown in Washington is this isn't going to go away.

ANDERSON: Important to note that this is a triumph for Epstein's victims.

I wonder how this is going to play out in the public eye. Stephen?

COLLINSON: Yes, I think, as I was saying, the visibility of those victims has been very important. This has become not just what it was on the Right,

a case about a supposedly secret cabal of a corrupt elite in Washington covering things up.

There is a sense that these women have never had justice from the justice system, either down in Florida, where Epstein was -- got a bit of a

sweetheart deal from prosecutors early in the 21st century.

[10:25:00]

And his death in prison deprived a lot of these women of the justice which they believe they are due. Then there was this whole issue of the

government and the Trump administration not bringing these files out.

So I think that sense of suppressed justice is very important in the politics of this. And that's why it's become a treacherous political issue

and an issue which has drawn in more Americans the longer it has gone on.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, sir. It's always a pleasure. Thank you.

Just ahead, our global stock markets going through an AI reckoning while investors are looking to earnings from the AI start Nvidia for a possible

answer. We will preview what the chip giant could unveil after the bell after this.

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ANDERSON (voice-over): Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. Here are your headlines this hour.

And U.S. president Donald Trump and Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman are hosting a business forum, underway at Washington's Kennedy Center. It

comes after their White House meeting Tuesday, when the crown prince pledged to boost Saudi investment in the U.S. to $1 trillion.

The U.S. Senate has officially sent legislation requiring the release of the Epstein case files to president Trump's desk. The president is expected

to sign it as early as today. The bill was approved by both houses of Congress nearly unanimously.

And a federal judge listening to arguments from James Comey -- James Comey's legal team, they're trying to get Comey's criminal case dismissed,

arguing it's based on a vindictive and selective prosecution, brought at the direction of president Donald Trump.

Comey is charged with lying to Congress and obstructing congressional proceedings. He has pleaded not guilty.

ANDERSON: Let's check in on the markets and the investors, ahead of time - - and we are, what, a couple of hours into the trading day now. Investors are an hour or so into the trading day. Investors have been looking sort a

bit shyly at these markets. But they've taken off.

The Nasdaq out of the gate and doing well. The AI boom, the chipmaking giant, Nvidia, set to unveil its quarterly report after the Wall Street

close. Tech stocks have been under pressure this month, largely over concerns of an AI bubble. Nervous markets had been looking for signs of AI

fatigue.

But I have to say, Matt Egan joining us and watching all of this, certainly doesn't look as if there's much fatigue in the Nasdaq as far as investors

are concerned today.

[10:30:02]

And Nvidia, ahead of these earnings today, up some 3.5 percent.

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR WRITER: Well, Becky, look, this is a big test for the AI boom. And really for the entire stock market. Because even

though Nvidia may not be a household name, it is the MVP of the AI revolution. Its chips are in virtually every major AI venture.

In fact, Nvidia is now the most valuable company on the planet, right?

It's worth a little over $4 trillion. Not only is that more than Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon, it's more than the entire economy of Canada

and Mexico combined. And Wall Street is hoping that Nvidia's results -- and maybe, just as importantly, its guidance about the future -- will confirm

that this AI boom remains intact.

Right?

Specifically, whether or not the company shows very strong demand continued in the last quarter and how confident are they that that demand is going to

hold up going forward. As you mentioned, Nvidia's share price moving higher today, 3 percent up right now as we speak.

And this company's stock could move around dramatically based on those results and the guidance as well. But the fact that Nvidia is up is, in

fact, a big reason why we're seeing U.S. markets rebound. The Nasdaq in particular, up 1.5 percent because it's not just about Nvidia.

It's about all the other AI stocks as well, including Meta and CoreWeave and Palantir, Oracle, all the companies that have actually -- they've been

pretty weak of late because there's been these concerns about a bubble brewing in AI.

And veteran investor Bob Elliott, he told me, really, for the first time, investors are starting to question whether or not the AI hype will turn

into reality.

And he said, if Nvidia's results don't meet expectations, he said, watch out below.

Now as you mentioned, markets have been pretty weak coming into today. The S&P 500 down 3 percent over the past week. Actually, it's facing a four-day

losing streak coming into today. That's the longest losing streak since August.

But it's not just about Nvidia. The other big elephant in the room is the jobs report. Now the September jobs report, that's what we're expecting

tomorrow. Normally in mid-November, we wouldn't care much about September numbers.

But because of the government shutdown, this report has been delayed. And this is going to be really key because, as this chart shows, we've seen

just this dramatic slowdown in job growth in the U.S. economy.

As recently as April, the U.S. economy was adding more than 150,000 jobs. But that slowed significantly. We even had a negative month as well back in

June. The expectation is for 50,000 jobs gained in September.

And how this report turns out, Becky, is going to go a long way into shaping all of those concerns about the U.S. economy and questions about

what the Federal Reserve is going to do next. So it will be a very big and significant next 24 hours.

ANDERSON: Yes.

EGAN: Back to you.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you.

Nvidia at 187.50. That is just shy of 3.5 percent higher ahead of its earnings after the bell. Thank you.

To a big win for Saudi Arabia. President Donald Trump has designated the Arab country as a major non-NATO ally of the United States during an event

at the White House on Tuesday.

Mr. Trump rolled out the red carpet for Saudi crown prince and announced that he was advancing military cooperation between both nations to even

greater heights. President Trump also confirmed both nations are finalizing a defense treaty and the sale of U.S. F-35 fighter jets to the kingdom.

CNN's Jennifer Hansler is following this developing story for us from Washington.

Look, both countries are touting -- sorry, let me say that again.

Both countries touting this deepened U.S.-Saudi military partnership as a win. So far, their agreements do appear to be somewhat short on details.

What more are you learning at this point?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, that's right. There's not a lot of meat on the bones in terms of what either side

is saying about this strategic defense agreement that they claim to have signed yesterday.

The White House put out a fact sheet yesterday, saying that this was meant to make it easier for U.S. defense companies to operate within Saudi

Arabia. It's also meant to reaffirm that the U.S. is the kingdom's strategic partner in the defense field.

Part of this, according to the White House fact sheet, is that F-35 sale that the president Trump has touted numerous times over the past couple of

days. This is, of course, incredibly controversial in the region, particularly in Israel, which is the only other regional country that has

these fighter jets. Trump was asked about that yesterday.

[10:35:00]

He sort of downplayed their concerns. This fact sheet also says that Saudi has committed to buying some 300 American-made tanks. They're touting this

as a win for U.S. jobs.

But one thing that is really notable here, Becky, is that this is not a Senate-approved and Senate-ratified defense treaty.

This is similar to the agreement we saw for Qatar, meaning that a future administration could come in and roll back all of the commitments that are

made under this bilateral defense agreement because it is not ratified by the U.S. Congress.

Now on the focus of the Congress as well, there has been some concern both about the president doling out these defense agreements without consulting

with the legislative body.

There is also some concern about those F-35 sales, which will likely have to be approved by members of Congress. We also saw yesterday, as you noted,

president Trump announced that Saudi would become another major non-NATO ally.

This is not something that provides defense promises necessarily but it does open them up to new defense agreements and sales as well. Becky.

ANDERSON: Always good to have you. Thank you very much indeed.

And we've been reporting over the past couple of hours, there is an investment conference ongoing at the Kennedy Center and many Saudi

investors, ministers and U.S. business leaders meeting together to pursue more deals during the crown prince's visit.

President Trump announced that Iran had signaled interest in striking a nuclear deal with the United States and CNN has exclusive reporting from

inside Iran that backs that up.

A senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader says his country is open to resuming talks but their conditions have not changed. Here is that full

interview with CNN's Fred Pleitgen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Would you be willing to talk again if they made a move or would you be willing to

contact them again?

KAMAL KHARRAZI, SENIOR POLICY ADVISER TO THE SUPREME LEADER OF IRAN: It all depends. If it would be based on mutual respect and equal footing and

the agenda would be prepared in advance, ensure the clarity of substance and the process of discussions, we are ready to do that.

PLEITGEN: Who do you think needs to make the first move, if you want to start talking?

And do you think they need to come to you or would you be willing to contact them?

KHARRAZI: They have to make the first move to show that they are ready to engage with us on the conditions that we put.

PLEITGEN: What does that mean as far as Iran's nuclear program is concerned?

I know that there were, apparently, pretty close to a common understanding between Steve Witkoff and Dr. Araghchi.

KHARRAZI: The nuclear program of Iran is indigenous and cannot be removed simply by force.

PLEITGEN: What are your red lines as far as the enrichment of uranium is concerned?

KHARRAZI: We have to continue our enrichment because we need to produce fuel for our power plants as well for our medical activities. Therefore, we

cannot just stop enriching uranium. The degree of enrichment is the question of negotiations.

PLEITGEN: And do you think that there could be a common understanding there?

Because there also, we have heard that they were quite close to an understanding of how it could possibly be continued, how the U.S. could

also get a feeling that enrichment would essentially stop here through some consortium maybe. Do you think that there could be a way to come to terms?

KHARRAZI: I think so. If there would be genuine negotiations between Iran and the United States, there are ways and means how to ensure that Iran can

continue its enrichment and at the same times, assure the others that it's not going to look for nuclear weapon.

PLEITGEN: And you are not anywhere close to having discussions to possibly change the fatwa against nuclear weapons. There is no discussion at all

here?

KHARRAZI: No, the fatwa cannot be changed. And that is the fatwa our leader of Islamic Republic, that it is forbidden to produce and use nuclear

weapon.

PLEITGEN: Is your nuclear program, as we speak, intact?

KHARRAZI: At the moment, there are some activities, especially in medical, I mean, area. But the damages that has been occurred is not yet assessed.

And it has to be assessed what is the damages.

PLEITGEN: So Natanz, Fordow are all destroyed and you haven't been able to look at them yet?

KHARRAZI: They have been attacked but we don't know how much they have been destroyed.

PLEITGEN: One of the things that Iran prides itself on and one of the things that's very important to this country's defense is your ballistic

missile program. How are you looking to enhance that program?

[10:40:02]

Are you looking to expand that program because it is the one way that you were able to strike back at Israel when they fired at you?

KHARRAZI: Certainly, we have to defend ourself (sic). Whatever we can do in producing our missiles, certainly we do not neglect. And that's the, I

mean, the weapons that we can defend ourself (sic) and safeguard our national security.

PLEITGEN: So Iran is going to continue to expand its ballistic missile program because I know that some of the ballistic miss are very

sophisticated.

KHARRAZI: No question about that. And it is only nuclear issue that we are ready to engage with the United States and others. We are not going to

speak with others or negotiate with others on the other issues including missile activities.

PLEITGEN: What, as we sit here, what is your message right now to U.S. president Donald Trump?

KHARRAZI: Start with a positive approach with Iran. If it would be positive, certainly it would be reciprocated. But for that, they have to

refrain from any force against Iran. They have tried that and they have now understand that it's not acceptable and it's not workable.

PLEITGEN: Do you fear that there could be another military confrontation between the U.S. and Iran, between Israel and Iran?

KHARRAZI: Everything is possible. But we are ready for that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, up next, my conversation with a top Red Cross official about Sudan and what aid agencies are calling the worst humanitarian crisis

in the world.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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ANDERSON: Humanitarian groups -- excuse me -- are pressing to get into the Sudanese city of El Fasher. The U.N.'s aid chief is calling the situation

there a, quote, "absolute horror show."

Well, the U.N. says nearly 100,000 people have been displaced in the last three weeks after it was captured by the rebel Rapid Support Forces. There

have been reports of atrocities.

Well, I spoke about the situation with Mamadou Sow, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross for the Gulf Cooperation Council

region. And I want to warn you, some of the images that you are about to see are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAMADOU SOW, GCC HEAD OF REGIONAL DELEGATION, ICRC: Sudan is the worst humanitarian crisis that we are confronted with today. When we are talking

about 12 million people displaced, that's staggering.

You know, today the fighting in and around El Fasher has resulted to images that you've seen. We've talked to people who've walked for 70 kilometers,

who find their way to Tawila.

When you talk to them, they tell you that we walked all this distance with only the clothes that we're wearing. Some children, they passed away only

after they arrived. And in Tawila, where you don't have these large, well- prepared refugee camps.

[10:45:04]

People are just under the trees. They are under the, you know, wherever they can put shelter, that's where they are. They are not fancy hospitals.

You have a, you know, a medical structure there. One is supported by MSF, the other one by us.

There's this amazing doctor who's working there, making miracles. I mean, he was -- he tell us that he was making -- stabilizing fractures with

cardboards. I mean, giving the best of himself to respond to the crisis.

ANDERSON: So let's talk about that because there are horrifying reports of the massacre of hundreds of Sudanese civilians after the Darfur city of El

Fasher was captured by the rebel Rapid Support Forces or the RSF.

What is, as you understand it, the humanitarian situation there?

SOW: It's terrible. We have been reminding over and over to the parties to this conflict that international humanitarian law is not optional. They

need to uphold human dignity. The civilians need to be respected and humanitarian workers need to be respected.

Our teams are on the ground. We are working to repair with the water points (ph). We are distributing a lot of cash. We're doing cash distribution

because, again, you want to create some kind of economy in some of these areas where people have found refuge.

But at the same time, we don't have the right access that we want and we want to have that access. We just recently lost five members of the Red

Crescent, Sudanese Red Crescent society. And you know, when we lose volunteers who did nothing but just volunteer to help the communities,

something in us die with them.

ANDERSON: Do you have any real idea about just how bad it is on the ground?

SOW: Yes, we know what's happening. We know what's happening. And that's why we -- that feeds our dialogue with the parties to the conflict.

But what we do with the information that we have is that we engage on a bilateral and confidential engagement with them. But we are aware of all

these reports and the images that that has been shared. And we are concerned. We are deeply, deeply concerned.

ANDERSON: Sudan is seen by many as strategically important within the wider region, a bridge between the Middle East and Africa. There have been

allegations against the UAE, which have been repeatedly denied by the UAE.

How is the organization's founding principles of neutrality being tested here, not only with the Israel-Gaza conflict but with the Sudan conflict as

well?

This is -- these are trying times for the ICRC.

SOW: Indeed. But we are a very stubborn organization. Now not everybody can understand what it means to be neutral. Some people equate neutrality

with complacency or they equate it with silence.

But our neutrality is not complacent. It's not silence. It's very active. It is our posture, whenever there is a contested territory, where we don't

take sides or we take sides with the victims and we take their pain and their suffering to where the decisions are taken now.

So to reassure everybody that we are not, you know, oblivious to the noise but we want to focus really on the interests of the victims and make sure

that they that we have access to them but also their voices are heard in the rooms where security decisions are taking place.

ANDERSON: Just talk to me about how many conflicts there are currently in 2025 and how challenging the space is.

SOW: Becky, a decade ago, our former president was speaking at the Security Council. He made reference to 10 to 20 armed conflicts. Today we

are talking about 130 armed conflicts around the world.

Now you have an increase in numbers. But not only that, you have also a staggering level of disregard for international humanitarian law, which is

a big challenge. And, therefore, the consequence will be more people suffering, more consequences.

ANDERSON: At a time when the money for the work that you do is tight and getting tighter.

SOW: Indeed, indeed. So when you have more conflict, you have more needs. When you have more needs, we need more to respond to the -- to the needs

around the world. Some conflicts are extremely visible, others are less so. That creates a hierarchy of need which we discuss regularly. We've

discussed this with you.

We have a fundamental problem with that. But that means that humanitarian workers are stretched thin. In moments like this, we need to remind both

people who are fighting of the importance to respect international humanitarian law; this is important. We also need to remind those who

support them that nobody fights alone.

ANDERSON: Just tell me the story about the lady with the goat.

SOW: So this was in the Lake Chad basin.

[10:50:00]

This is someone who fled Nigeria with her family and had nothing, nothing whatsoever. We found them in the middle of nowhere. And as we registered

them to include them on the next round of food distribution and monthly food distribution, right when we finished the registration, I saw that old

lady dragging the goat.

So I asked the translator, what is she doing?

She told me that she wants to offer you the goat.

Now Becky, mind you, I've worked in Afghanistan, I've worked in Iraq, I've negotiated with, I mean, every single armed group that you can imagine. The

negotiation with that lady was the hardest. We ended up settling for milk. She offered me milk.

But what I learned from her is that she wanted to tell me that the conflict have made me lose everything I owned but not my hospitality, my sense of

welcoming and my dignity, most importantly. And that is very powerful.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIN SALMAN: I believe, Mr. President, that, today and tomorrow we're going to announce that we are going to increase that $600 billion to almost $1

trillion of investment, real investment and real opportunity, by details in many areas.

And the agreement that we are signing today in many areas and technology in AI.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well a trillion bucks, Donald Trump would have us believe that is the big, beautiful headline out of this trip. It was right at the top of

the readout from the White House. And it is no small change, of course.

But it's what is beneath that number that matters: a long list of agreements, memoranda and declarations on key files, AI and advanced tech,

critical minerals, including for magnets, civil nuclear energy cooperation and defense in the form of F-35 jets and upgrading the kingdom to a major

non-NATO ally.

I've got to say, the details are still scant but it nonetheless underscores a key point that I want to drill down on. Saudi Arabia will see this trip

as a massive win both symbolically and substantively. The chummy scene on display at the White House yesterday was a clear -- was as clear a symbol

as any of this deepening relationship.

But substantively, these defense deals, for example, are critical to the kingdom's security in what is, frankly, a messy region. And these bilateral

trade deals are designed to supercharge investment into Saudi to support the crown prince's relentless goal of diversifying the Saudi economy away

from oil.

Senior Saudi officials regularly tell me, gone are the days of blank check diplomacy. Today when it comes to investment, it is a two-way street. Look,

I've been traveling to the kingdom for the last 15 years, including twice just this past month. I regularly catch up with officials from both the

private and public sectors and, indeed, the crown prince himself.

I've been steeped in this country's transformation since 2016. And I can report that it is certainly come an awful long way. And while the kingdom

does still feel the pinch of oil, the long view now being to build homegrown talent in these new priority sectors, as I've seen firsthand, for

example, with its new AI champion, Humain.

[10:55:07]

And you heard the crown prince say there, to his mind, the opportunities just keep increasing. And that's because, for the Arab world's largest

economy, this mission to modernize and diversify is, frankly, an existential one for the crown prince.

It is absolutely crucial for the future of not just the 35 million Saudi citizens, most of them incredibly young, but for the broader region,

because what goes on in Saudi doesn't stay in Saudi. A strong Saudi and Saudi economy that can cascade through the wider region is a good thing,

the kingdom will say, for this wider region.

Well, that is it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.

END