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U.S.-Israel War with Iran; U.S. Military Escorts 40 Ships, 18 Million Barrels Of Oil Through Strait of Hormuz; Rusty State of U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln after Marathon Deployment Shocks Observers; Billionaire Investor Refuses to Testify in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation; Nvidia to Acquire Hugging Face; ICE Arrests Hit Record Highs, Many with No Criminal Record; Gloria Steinem Dead at 92; Glacial Lakes in Peru at Risk of Overflowing. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired September 03, 2026 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Welcome to the second hour of the show from our Middle East programming headquarters. I'm Becky Anderson here
in Abu Dhabi, where the time is just after 6:00 in the evening.
And new CNN reporting shows the U.S. military escorted commercial vessels carrying 18 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
Does this one-day war record provide the result Washington needs to pressure Iran back to the negotiating table?
Well, AI giants gathered at the G20 summit to discuss regulation and policy this week but data centers took center stage as more communities push back
against their expansion.
And feminist icon Gloria Steinem has died at the age of 92. A look at the legacy she leaves behind and what it means for future generations of women.
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ANDERSON: We start with some success in the U.S. strategy in the war with Iran. Two U.S. officials tell CNN the U.S. neutralized Iranian military
assets around the Strait of Hormuz, hitting nearly 60 targets on Tuesday as it escorted 40 commercial vessels through the strait, carrying an estimated
18 million barrels of oil.
That is the most oil transiting the state on one -- strait on one day since the war started. The U.S. officials say the attacks are part of an American
effort to degrade Iran's influence in those waterways and, combined with the ongoing naval blockade, ramp up economic pressure on Tehran.
They caution it's unclear whether multipronged military operations will ultimately force Iran into an agreement and, if so, how long it would take
to reach that point.
Well, president Trump insists the strategy is working. Here's what he had to say at the White House late on Wednesday
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We've controlled and we are controlling the Hormuz Strait. We are bringing lots of boats out every day with millions of barrels of oil. We
are, for the most part, doing it without trouble. Every once in a while, they shoot a drone and knock it down but we have control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Alayna Treene joined me last hour from Washington with more on the latest U.S. operations in the Strait of Hormuz.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This was a wartime high for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, particularly if you look at what
we've seen in the levels of the number of vessels that have been able to get through that crucial waterway since the beginning of this war.
And as you mentioned as well, this is really all part of the Trump Administration's strategy to try and chip away at the leverage that Iran
still holds over the strait. Now, the U.S. military escorted 40 commercial vessels carrying 18 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz as
part of this operation.
And just to give you a sense of what the scope of that actually means, some context here. Prior to the launch of the war, just over six months ago,
roughly 20 million barrels a day were passing through the strait. Now they're saying 18 million barrels were allowed through the Strait of Hormuz
because of this operation.
So that gives you a sense, you know, 2 million barrels off of what we were seeing in pre-war levels passing through the strait.
Now, U.S. officials said that they used a range of air, sea, and space assets to not only continue hitting Iran's capability to attack commercial
vessels in the strait, Becky, but also, they were fending off waves of drone attacks as they conducted this risky escort mission.
They also neutralized anti-trip cruise missiles during this escort operation officials told CNN. Now, look, I will say, I think you know when
you talk to different officials, they are by no means believing that this is going to be something that they can continue to do at this scale in the
near term.
But it just shows just how much they are focused on trying to remove this as really a core piece of leverage that Iran has. Obviously, this has
really been in the immediate term what the administration has focused on the most. We've seen the president's other real priorities with this war.
Of course, the objectives he laid out at the start of this back in February before they launched the first strikes was that they want to try and find a
way to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.
Those negotiations and this idea of trying to get Iran back to the table.
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To have a substantial negotiation on a potential deal and to end the war that's kind of been put on the back burner as they try and make the strait
back open to pre-war levels.
So, all of this, I think, giving a lot of people some optimism about their ability to, you know, take on Iran on this front, but still a lot more to
come.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, the U.S. Treasury Secretary alluding to that increase in oil flowing through the strait. Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 summit
on Tuesday, he also dismissed concerns about Iran's hold over it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: We could see the Iranians are trying to use the Strait of Hormuz as a choke point. It's not a choke point
for the U.S. But it is a choke point for many other countries.
And -- but that will be bypassed in two years. In two years, the Strait of Hormuz will be like a worthless piece of water. That oil will be going on
pipelines across land.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, America's Gulf allies, meantime, are left to deal with a high degree of uncertainty, insisting the current situation is not
sustainable.
The UAE president, Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, discussed various aspects of cooperation with the U.S. in a phone call with president Trump. A
statement says they discussed ways to further strengthen ties. The UAE also condemning the latest Iranian attacks on Kuwait that followed the
resumption of these U.S. strikes on Iran.
Well, the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier has pulled into Thailand after being deployed for nearly 300 days, including for operations, of
course, in the war in Iran. And observers are noting it's covered in rust from bow to stern.
Experts say the state of the ship is not unusual, as sanding off the rust is impossible at sea. Well, a former U.S. Navy captain now saying the
preservation work would take up to 30 days. CNN's Ivan Watson reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just look at the rust coating an American aircraft carrier as it arrived at a port in Thailand
this week. The U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln wrapping up what has been one of the longest
deployments in U.S. Navy history. Some 286 days at sea, much of that spent involved in combat operations in the Middle East, supporting the ongoing
U.S. war against Iran.
And if you take a look at the ship back in January and today, you could just see this rust along the hull of this 1,100-foot-long warship from bow
to stern. Now some Navy experts say that this is not actually that much of a surprise that Navy ships will start collecting rust in these areas after
just two months of operations in the ocean.
It's going to be a lot of work for crew members to clean this up. This is going to be now, this port visit to Thailand, the first time that thousands
of sailors and Marines are getting to set foot on dry land really since winter. And one of the officers on board had this to say about that.
CAPTAIN DANIEL J. KEELER, COMMANDER, U.S.S. ABRAHAM LINCOLN: We're very, very happy to be here in Pattaya Beach. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for welcoming
us. It is a well-deserved break for all of the crew and we really look forward to our time here to get a little rest.
WATSON: And perhaps in the cases of a lucky few, there were relatives waiting on shore to greet their loved ones.
SHAKEIRA FAIRFAX, MOTHER OF CREW MEMBER: I just can't wait to see her smile. I can't wait to hear mom. I know that's the first thing she's going
to say.
WATSON: The Abraham Lincoln's long deployment became a political issue in Washington.
With some U.S. lawmakers criticizing what were reports of plunging morale among the crew, of supply shortages, interruptions of postal service and of
one crew member who reportedly went overboard in what the Navy considered to be a mental health episode.
The Pentagon and President Trump have dismissed that criticism, President Trump actually saying that the Abraham Lincoln's deployment was, quote,
"not nearly long enough" -- Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, for more on this, CNN's Kevin Liptak, joining me live from the White House.
Kevin, what are we hearing from the Trump administration on this?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have defended, obviously, this record long deployment of the Abraham Lincoln. They have
hailed the work that the sailors did over the course of those 286 days.
But it's hard to avoid, I think, the symbolism of this now rust-covered ship heading back home.
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It appears as if it's kind of limping back into port after what was, I think, a very strenuous deployment.
And certainly the morale problems that we saw over the last month or so in the final days of this deployment, I think, symbolized in the state of the
ship at the moment, even if Navy experts say that that is perfectly normal for something like this, for something that has lasted this amount of days.
Now president Trump has talked previously about rust on Navy ships. He doesn't like to see it.
And actually, the Navy Secretary, John Phelan, who actually stepped down earlier this year, talked about getting phone calls in the middle of the
night from president Trump complaining about the way that certain Navy ships looked because they were too covered in rust, encouraging him to get
it fixed very, very quickly.
And so even though this is a normal for these ships and for these aircraft carriers who have been at sea for so long, I don't think that president
Trump is necessarily going to like the imagery of this ship heading back to port in the state that it is in because of what it perhaps represents about
the state of the conflict itself.
Which has now gone on far longer than he once predicted. He said it would last six weeks and we are now past the six-month mark, because it doesn't
look as if there's any clear indication of how it will end at this point. No obvious, durable solution to reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
That all, I think, will pose both problems for the administration but also an opening for the president's critics, who have been wary of how he has
been handling this conflict writ large. But certainly for the sailors, it is welcome news that they are heading home.
ANDERSON: So I'm fascinated. Yes, yes, I'm fascinated by that. The images, at least, aren't likely to play well, either, with or for Donald Trump. And
given the growing pressure on the Pentagon, I wonder how all of this is landing with Trump's base and the wider Republican Party.
LIPTAK: Yes. And you do hear, you know, mounting concerns among Republicans, particularly those who are in vulnerable races ahead of the
midterm elections.
They want this war to be over with and, if not over with, they want it to at least recede into the background for the next two months or so before
voters head to the polls. They recognize that the war is very unpopular. It started off unpopular, which is a rarity for American conflicts abroad.
But it has only gotten more unpopular in the months since. And so when you listen to Republicans -- and particularly those who are close to the White
House and are trying to send a message to the president, they really want this to be put on the back burner.
They don't want a major escalation in the months before the midterm elections, because it was only going to serve to remind voters that gas
prices are higher than they were before the conflict. There doesn't seem to be any victory in terms of strategic objectives that the president laid out
at the start of the conflict.
And so there is a real desire to for the president to move past this. But it's not clear that that has broken through to the president. You know, you
still see, periodically, including this week, the back-and-forth strikes with Iran.
And it seems as if that's the president's strategy going forward, is to launch these periodic retaliations with Iran.
And obviously, Iran knows that the president is facing these political pressures and can read as well as anyone else the polls about the
popularity of the war itself. And so some real concerns, I think, among the president's allies about what this might portend for them politically,
heading into the midterms.
ANDERSON: Got it. Kevin, good to have you.
Kevin's in Washington. Time there just about 10:15 in the evening (sic).
Well, new today, billionaire investor Leon Black is refusing to testify before a U.S. congressional panel investigating Jeffrey Epstein. Black, who
has ties to Epstein, was scheduled for a closed door deposition with the House Oversight Committee this hour.
Instead, his lawyers are suing to block the panel from obtaining his nondisclosure agreements and testimony. The committee says it will move
forward with the deposition without him, leaving an empty chair. This is a major escalation in the months-long fight between Black and the panel.
Well, CNN reporter Annie Grayer is live on Capitol Hill.
And as I understand it, CNN has obtained a letter to the committee from Black's attorney.
What does it say about the lawsuit across the board?
ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Black's attorneys lay out and lay out pretty clearly why they are not going to comply with these
subpoenas.
They believe these subpoenas are invalid and they believe the subpoena for his testimony are invalid. And they believe the subpoenas for the
documents, the nondisclosure agreements, are overly broad.
[10:15:04]
Are not relevant to the investigation, because they say that these NDAs have nothing to do with Epstein. Epstein wasn't involved in them.
And they say that if they were to turn over these NDAs, that it would really harm third parties who were wanting these things to stay private.
The committee's argument has been, it is up to us to decide whether these documents are relevant or not to the investigation. We have a right to see
them.
And that is the crux of the disagreement here. But this has been going back and forth for months. The committee first brought Black in on a voluntary
basis back in June. But that interview ended abruptly when Black was refusing to answer the committee's questions about NDAs.
And in a pretty dramatic move, the chair of the committee, House Oversight Chair James Comer, subpoenaed Black on the spot, which is what led us to
the buildup of today, of back and forth, of whether he was going to appear now under oath and hand over those documents under subpoena.
And Black is now deciding that he is not going to show up and instead is going to try and fight this in court. So now it is back in the hands of
Comer and the committee Republicans about what move they want to take here, if they want to try and hold him in contempt of Congress or they're going
to try and fight this in court.
Democrats are pushing that Black really should be held in contempt of Congress. But, of course, Republicans hold the majority.
So it's really up to them what play call is made. But the committee is very interested in speaking with Black because of his long-term relationship
with Jeffrey Epstein, even though Black says that he knew nothing of Epstein's crimes, he is that -- he says he has never sexually assaulted or
abused anyone.
The committee is very interested to learn about those business dealings, about his relationship with Epstein as part of its broader investigation
into the convicted sex offender.
So we will wait to see what happens from this committee room, which, behind me, is where Black was supposed to be. Members are now meeting to decide
what steps to take next.
ANDERSON: Thank you. And we will continue to follow this.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson.
Still to come, as AI expands at breakneck speed, tech CEOs urging global leaders to limit regulations. We're going to speak with a panel of AI
policy experts, up next.
And later, Spain's prime minister reacts to growing pressure over the mass border crossing that saw an estimated 72,000 people surge into Spain within
a few hours in July.
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ANDERSON: Well, look, it's been a massive week in the AI space and I want to take you through just some of what's been going on. The news breaking a
short time ago that Nvidia is buying Hugging Face, a library of open source AI models, in a $13 billion deal.
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Now you may remember Hugging Face as the company that was recently hacked by a rogue AI agent that escaped an open AI lab. You see Nvidia's stock
ticking upwards. It is on that march and has been of late.
This deal underscores just how much Nvidia is leading the AI spending spree and seemingly becoming Silicon Valley's central banker, raising fears that
the whole AI industry is becoming increasingly circular.
Still this just shows that AI innovation is running full speed ahead. And that was the key takeaway from the G20 meeting hosted by the U.S. these
past couple of days in North Carolina.
Tech executives and dignitaries gathered to urge a light touch to AI regulation, which led to the G20 representatives unanimously signing an
agreement supporting exactly that. It is a significant win for the Trump administration as it tries to assert its leadership in the AI race.
But huge questions remain about what it looks like in practice. Have a listen to the two different takes from Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen
Huang.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELON MUSK, CEO, SPACEX: You have to have an environment that's relatively free of regulation, meaning that new things must be default legal as
opposed to default illegal.
So in the E.U., for example, we find that the regulation level is extraordinarily high and things are generally default illegal. And this
inhibits progress of new technologies. It slows it down. It doesn't ultimately stop it but it slows it down quite considerably.
JENSEN HUANG, CEO, NVIDIA: I think it's a responsibility for all of our -- all of the leaders, all of us, to make sure that we take safety and
security and building the technology properly our responsibility.
And working with regulators and, of course, every single, there's so many regulations and so many laws already, intelligence is a digital version of
what we do. And so you would think digital version of some task that humans do.
So in fact, humans are -- have regulations across so many different domains already, whether it's the FDA or NHTSA or whatever it is, there's so many
different agencies that already have regulations.
I'm sure there's a way to formulate AI into that. And so, I think the balance of precise regulation, don't regulate hypothetical theoretical
harm, regulate actual and pragmatic harm. And give this technology, which is at the early stages of the S curve innovation an opportunity to advance
quickly so that it could be saved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: This is really important stuff. And I wanted to get you a couple of experts now to debate this and much more in the AI landscape.
Sarah Kreps is the director of Cornell's Tech Policy Institute.
Shelly Palmer is the CEO of The Palmer Group that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing.
To both of you, thank you for being with us. We've got a lot to unpack from what we heard this week. Let's pick up on that AI regulation to begin with.
First, Sarah, it has to be said, these tech leaders do have skin in this game.
So from a more impartial lens, yours, can you give us your perspective on whether a light touch, innovation-driven approach to regulation, is the
right one?
SARAH KREPS, DIRECTOR, CORNELL BROOKS SCHOOL TECH POLICY INSTITUTE: I mean, I don't think that this is a prescriptive matter. This is a matter of
values. And I think it's, you know, the European Union, as we heard, has taken a much more kind of leaning into regulation approach.
And the U.S., I think, has generally been much more kind of, let the risk manifest. And, you know -- and I think to the point of Jensen Huang,
there's been a lot of rhetoric around kind of abstract, prospective harm.
And what I think he's suggesting -- and I think that makes sense for the United States -- is to think about what the existing laws are that can
accommodate these new technologies but also not to be trying to regulate abstract harm that hasn't manifested. So I think that's what he's talking
about in terms of bringing that back to the center.
ANDERSON: Shelly, your thoughts?
SHELLY PALMER, CEO, THE PALMER GROUP: Look, this is regulatory capture in sheep's clothing. They definitely are not looking out for the rest of the
world. What they're trying to do is shore up the capabilities.
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And the, I should say, the ability of the frontier model builders in the United States to have extraordinary closed systems where they can get the
investment back, the trillions of dollars that will ultimately be spent, no one should be confused about this.
It's a fully militarized technology. It is very scary to people who understand it. The more you understand it, the more terrified you are. The
less you understand it, the more terrified you should be but also thrilled.
This is completely new. And what we have right now are people with incredibly aligned economic interests and then the rest of us. So you have
to take this at face value, Becky. This is regulatory capture.
And by the way, the governments have figured this out. They want -- they understand this is weapons grade AI and they're not going to let any of us
get a hold of the frontier ever again.
So now you've got two things going on. You've got open source and open weight models that are out in the world and there's nothing you can do to
regulate them.
And then you've got the frontier. And they're trying to get regulatory capture so that they literally have a green field to work in. So there's a
very, very different economic interest and opposing interests going on here. And we shouldn't be confused.
ANDERSON: Sarah, Sam Altman and Jensen Huang both imploring G20 economies to embrace AI or risk being left behind. Let's have a listen to them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAM ALTMAN, CEO, OPENAI: We have to remind the industry that -- and I think the dialogue around safety and security is all fantastic.
However, if you think about each one of your countries, what is the worst outcome that could happen in this technology industrial revolution?
The worst outcome is that you don't take advantage of it, that you are left behind. That is the single worst outcome.
And that outcome comes from -- that outcome could happen if we talk about the technology with fear, with uncertainty; the leadership talks about it
with so much concern, so much fear and all the conversations around safety and security.
HUANG: I think it would be approximately as bad of an idea to say, we're not going to have AI in our country as it was to say we're not going to
have electricity in our country, you know, back 100-plus years ago,
I think this is something at that level. This is something that every person and every business and really the entire machine of society is going
to need to deliver the quality of life that your citizens should demand now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: You know, I feel like we've moved beyond the notion of whether we're going to have AI or not, because I think we'll all agree, you know,
it's here, it's here to stay. It's just the speed at which it has an impact on all of our lives and what is done to ensure that we are, you know,
comfortable about that going forward.
I wonder what you -- and let me start with you, sir.
What do you make of their argument?
How should the rest of the world read into this?
I mean, the region where I am here in the UAE, for example and around the GCC, a huge investor in AI and leader in AI governance to a degree.
PALMER: So they're both right. And that's the part that's really difficult for people to understand. First of all, for all of the impact it has had or
will have or is supposed to have had, there's less than 4 percent adoption.
We're nowhere near -- we are literally nowhere near having humanity impacted by AI in the way that it will be over time. We're going to learn a
lot when the iPhone comes out on September 9th. We're going to learn a great deal about what your personal AI is going to look like.
Is Siri AI literally going to be your personal digital assistant?
Will it start working on your behalf?
Will 1.5 billion, 2 billion people all of a sudden enjoy the capabilities of AI and change their minds about its capabilities set?
You know, right now, the thing that everyone is talking about is what it's capable of from a cybersecurity perspective. And then there's an entire
other thing, where you look at what's happening to society.
Can we outsource our thinking and our understanding?
That's really scary.
Like what, how will education have to change?
How will work have to change?
We don't know how society will change yet. So they're both right. And the thing is, there's no way to slow this down. There really isn't. So it's
just a question of how are we going to allow it to go forward. It's not about how we're going to slow it down. It's not going to slow down.
ANDERSON: Yes. And, Sarah, it's funny; that actually brings up AI and education. The UAE this week, for its new school term, has actually
released a curriculum which has AI as one of its core subjects from K-12, to ensure that kids are sort of, you know, familiar with and being familiar
with AI, AI tools.
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You know, ethics, you know, misinformation and the like and able to cope, going forward, ensuring that there's, you know, sufficient critical
thinking going on, literacy skills and all the rest of it. I just wonder if you want to pick up on anything that Shelly just said there.
KREPS: Yes, no, I think, you know, to this point about kind of competing visions and values, I mean, at the same time, just yesterday, the New York
City mayor said that he would ban AI for K-8 in New York City Public Schools.
And so it's a very different approach. And we're seeing that in higher education, too, just different ways of either acknowledging the
proliferation of AI and trying to think about the value of higher education in a world of AI, where, frankly, term papers, I'm not assigning those
anymore because I have done that for a couple of semesters.
And I'm just getting a bunch of AI slop back. And so I think this is a period of adjustment and thinking about, you know, how to think about this
new technology and coming back to something Shelly said in his -- both the last two comments.
I think we're in a world where we have, you know, both things can be true. I don't disagree that these companies have skin the game. They obviously
do.
But I think he's also right to suggest that this is moving forward anyway.
And so how can we do this in a way where we're not -- countries are not artificially holding themselves back?
And I think that is what was being pointed out at this at these meetings.
PALMER: Becky, what's really important, what's really important to understand is that we have, for the last 100 years or more in modern
business, been focused on the deliverable. We are making a presentation, we're making a deck, we're making a spreadsheet. We're going to go present
it to someone. We're making an ad.
Almost everyone in knowledge works on creating deliverables or accepting deliverables in a presentation. We're about to get into a world where you
press a button and, 10 minutes later, you have a fit-for-purpose deliverable in your hand.
The atomic unit of business is going to have to shift from the deliverable to the decision. Now we have to outthink our opponents and our competitors.
We don't have to out-execute because the AI will do the execution. There is nothing in K-12, there's nothing in college that prepares you for that.
There's nothing in the regular business community that prepares you for that. This is a guarantee. It's not somehow going to happen in the future.
For most of us, we're here now, who are practitioners, everybody gets this technology within the next 36 months for sure.
How are we preparing for that?
That's the question you need to ask. And if you don't have an answer for that, that's the answer we must seek.
ANDERSON: I don't want to lose you both before we just tackle briefly the other massive topic at the G20 ministerial and that was, of course, a
growing backlash to data centers.
Trump causing quite the uproar this week when he said, on Truth Social, that if communities don't want data centers, they are, quote, "backwards
and poor."
But you could argue that his tagline, "let data reign," was quite sharp. Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown praised Trump for it in his fireside chat on
Thursday. Have a quick listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM BROWN, CO-FOUNDER, ANTHROPIC: I really loved president Trump's post from earlier this week, where I think it's -- it's very -- he was pointing
out that the data centers are just an enormous source of prosperity. They produce a ton of jobs. They reduce taxes.
Now the way that we design them, we actually bring on more power to the grid. So the like ratepayer pledge is something that we've signed up to, as
have the major, other major labs. And that makes it so that we bring on power behind the grid, behind the meter and we can give it back to the grid
as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: There's another argument here. And it is supported by a recent FOX News poll that found that 70 percent of Americans oppose data centers
in their community.
But taken political leaders arguing that data centers, of course, are now the main engine of economic growth, the only real job creator, as one
former Trump official told "Politico."
So I'm just wondering, both of you -- and let's start with Sarah.
How do you bridge that gap?
KREPS: Yes, I mean, but I think this is increasingly a -- notwithstanding the Trump administration but a bipartisan issue. I mean, governor Abbott in
Texas is saying, wait, wait, wait, let's make sure this is a win-win. Shapiro in Pennsylvania, who had been welcoming data centers.
[10:35:03]
Now he's a Democrat, is saying, let's hold off and think about what's going on here. So -- and DeSantis in Florida.
So I think this -- there's a lot of apprehension about what it means to have these in your own back yard.
And I think that some of that is just a way in which, you know, the CEOs and the tech industry, which has been kind of trotting out these
existential risk concerns for the last two years, I think that's kind of coming back to haunt them a little bit.
And this is a way that these local communities can feel like they have agency over something that is very, very abstract.
ANDERSON: Yes, these AI factories, Shelly, have become highly politicized.
PALMER: Way too much. To be fair, it's a proxy for the anti-AI movement. People are terrified of AI. They think they're going to lose their jobs to
it. The world's going to change.
My mom used to say, the only people that like change are babies in wet diapers. And that is so true here. The issue, though, is a little deeper
than this. The volume and velocity of data is increasing and will always increase. And all data is not knowledge.
In order to make something actionable, to turn data into knowledge, you must process it. And that must happen in a data center. We create thousands
of data points a day about ourselves and our smartphone and our health apps.
And everywhere you look, we are creating more data today than we did yesterday and we will create more data tomorrow than we do today. So data
centers are the only way that the future unfolds in our favor.
Now what do we have to do?
We have to figure out a way to be environmentally conscious. There's all kinds of very valid things about data centers going up that people should
pay attention to.
But the idea that you're somehow going to kill AI by killing the data centers is naive and silly. And this -- and by the way, the politicians,
they follow the population like they're trying to get elected. So if there's an anti-AI sentiment, they're going to jump on it because it's good
for them. It's going to get them reelected.
What it's not going to do is propel society into the future. So we have to figure out a way to balance that, to blame a data center, let's get it
right. You're not blaming the data center. You're blaming the power plant that creates the pollution, that powers the data center. Data centers
simply turn electricity into processing.
ANDERSON: I've got to leave it there. I could go on for hours with you two. But we haven't got the time on this show. I've got other news to do.
This is really valuable stuff. Thank you so much, both of you, for joining us today.
All right. Still ahead, ICE arrests surge. We take a look at the agency's record-breaking month amid a sweeping immigration crackdown.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. These are your headlines this hour.
And apologies; we are just having a few technical problems here. Tell you what, I'm going to take a very short break. We'll fix this and we'll come
back after this.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi and you are watching CONNECT THE WORLD. These are your headlines.
The U.S.S Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier has docked in Thailand after being on deployment for nearly 300 days, including for operations in the
war in Iran. But observers are noting it's covered in rust from bow to stern. A former Navy captain says it could take weeks to remove.
All hopes are fading that hundreds of workers feared trapped in Nepal's hydropower tunnels will be found alive. Thick mud buried the facilities
after last week's deadly flash floods. Rescuers are using drones with thermal cameras and drilling through the top of the tunnels to search for
survivors.
Gloria Steinem, the journalist and feminist icon who helped shape the modern women's movement, died on Wednesday. She rose to prominence in the
1960s, becoming one of the movement's most recognizable and influential voices. For decades, she fought for equality and women's rights. She was
92.
Well, the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, addressed Spain's parliament earlier today, defending the government's response to the mass
border crisis that saw some 72,000 migrants cross into Ceuta from Morocco.
Tens of thousands took to the streets of Ceuta to protest against the governments handling of the crisis. While most of the migrants have crossed
back over the border to Morocco, there are some 10,000 who remain, sparking rising tensions in the enclave
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PEDRO SANCHEZ, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Our dilemma was to either allow the people to pass through momentarily or to try to
stop them in force of the breakwater.
And also in the sea, something which would have triggered an even worse catastrophe than what happened on the 30th and 31st of July, with hundreds
drowned, which I referred to before.
They did the right thing, the intelligent and brave thing, because, facing the threat, they knew how to respond with humanity, which is what
differentiates great democracies like Spain.
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ANDERSON: Well, the U.S. Justice Department is moving to require states to report information on undocumented immigrants or risk losing federal
funding for two key public assistance programs. It is the latest move by the White House to force states to cooperate with president Trump's
immigration crackdown.
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The administration threatening the, quote, "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and the Supplemental Security Income program both offer
help to low income households."
Let me get you Priscilla Alvarez. She has more for you on this -- Priscilla.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, this is really boiling down to compelling states again to assist president Donald
Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown or face the consequence of losing those key federal funds.
You mentioned them there. They are two public assistance programs, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Security Income.
What this new legal opinion from the Justice Department states is that all agencies within a state must provide information on undocumented immigrants
believed to be residing in the United States or risk losing those funds.
Now this is a sweeping new legal interpretation of a Clinton-era opinion. In that opinion, they had stated that the agencies that were administering
the programs had to abide by this reporting requirement.
The difference here is that it's much broader, essentially requiring all those agencies within a state government to, again, report any undocumented
immigrants believed to be residing in the state. This is how the Justice Department described this change.
They said, quote, "When a state chooses to participate in TAMP, it accepts the obligation to report illegal aliens in the United States."
They went on to say that "Tax dollars intended to help vulnerable Americans should not perversely encourage illegal entry into the United States but
rather should reinforce our laws and our borders."
Now, of course, Becky, it's worth noting that undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federal benefits. There are limited exceptions and it's
unclear how the administration is going to implement this. The opinion reveals that this is going to be for future funding, not previous funding.
But this is also likely going to come under legal challenges. There are already critics to these ongoing efforts by the administration, who say
that the administration is trying to coerce states into complying with the aggressive immigration crackdown by leveraging these welfare benefits.
So we'll be keeping an eye on how, first of all, the administration implements this. But second, how the states respond and whether we see
legal challenges here because, again, Becky, this is another attempt to do this.
We had seen this last year, last year with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and food stamps. And earlier this year, a federal judge had
temporarily blocked that effort. So a lot more to come in this space. But certainly the message from the administration is that they want more
cooperation from states.
ANDERSON: Understood. Good to have you. Thank you.
Gloria Steinem, the journalist and feminist who became a defining voice of the women's rights movement, has died at the age of 92. She spent decades,
of course, pushing for equality, from fairness for women in the workplace to abortion access and better sex education.
She died on Wednesday in New York surrounded by loved ones, according to a statement on her Instagram account. Well, CNN's Sara Sidner has a closer
look at Steinem's incredible life and legacy.
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GLORIA STEINEM, JOURNALIST AND FEMINIST ICON: Any philosophy that tells us that there's only one way to live has got to be wrong for some people.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like few in her generation, journalist and feminist leader Gloria Steinem helped shape the
national dialogue on some of the most contentious issues of our time.
STEINEM: The point is not what we choose but that we have the right to make a choice.
SIDNER (voice-over): A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Smith College, Steinem burst onto the national scene in 1963 with an expose of the working
conditions of Playboy bunnies.
She applied for and got a job as a bunny at the New York Playboy Club to get the inside scoop. She revealed the long hours and stingy salaries of
women who worked in the club, where rich men spent their leisure time.
Steinem became a tireless advocate of what came to be called the Women's Liberation Movement. She was an eloquent and sometimes poignant champion of
women's issues, including equal rights and abortion.
STEINEM: I can assure you, as a woman who has had one, that abortion is not a pleasurable experience. It is only a last resort. And if the anti-
abortion forces were not also anti-contraception and anti-sex education in the schools, we would have millions fewer abortions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were the one who coined the phrase reproductive freedom.
Now how did that happen?
STEINEM: It was reproductive rights, reproductive freedom. But clearly, the ability to control, to make decisions over our own physical selves, is
fundamental to democracy.
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But because democracy did not, in the beginning, include female human beings, we didn't necessarily include reproductive freedom.
SIDNER (voice-over): Her refusal to shy away from hot button issues provoked a backlash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Teach my children to hate just like me. Car cheats, horse thieves, baby killers and sodomites.
SIDNER (voice-over): In 1971, Steinem launched "Ms." magazine, the first national women's magazine run by women. The preview issue sold out and,
within five years its circulation reached half a million.
She hobnobbed with the rich and famous and received the red carpet treatment as a celebrity in her own right.
In September 2000, Steinem married David Bale, father of actor Christian Bale. They were together for less than four years. Bale died of brain
lymphoma at age 62.
Steinem, though, remained active as a mentor and educator. A 2011 HBO documentary, "Gloria in Her Own Words," introduced Steinem to a new
generation of women. And in 2013, President Barack Obama awarded her the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
BARACK OBAMA (D), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Her one piece of advice to young girls is -- I love this -- "Do not listen to my advice.
Listen to the voice inside you and follow that."
SIDNER (voice-over): Steinem's reaction, quote. "I'd be crazy if I didn't understand that this was a medal for the entire women's movement."
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Gloria Steinem, dead at 92.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. There is a lot more news ahead. Stay with us.
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ANDERSON: The deadly flooding that took place in Nepal could happen elsewhere. Experts in Peru say hundreds of glacial lakes are at risk of
overflowing. My colleague, Rafael Romo, has the story for you.
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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across the world, from the deadly tragedy in Nepal, experts are sounding an alarm that Peru
risks a similar disaster.
A Peruvian research institute has identified 528 glacial lakes in that country at risk of overflowing. And of those, 58 are classified as very
high risk.
PAOLA MOSCHELLA, DIRECTOR OF GLACIER RESEARCH, INAIGEM (through translator): What happened in Nepal is a type of mass movement event of
glacial origin. This type of situation is also present in Peru. Both in the Andes and in the Himalayas, we share the presence of a large number of
glaciers and the presence of population near them.
ROMO (voice-over): Studies show glaciers in high-altitude mountain ranges are increasingly melting, causing lakes to swell significantly. Lake
Palcacocha in western Peru is among the most exposed sites.
MOSCHELLA (through translator): From the study of the characteristics of this lagoon, its surroundings and the modeling of a possible flood as a
consequence of an avalanche onto the lagoon and the subsequent overflow of the lagoon, it has been identified that some 27,407 people would be exposed
to this type of flood.
ROMO (voice-over): Some of the deadliest glacial disasters in history have taken place in Peru, including a 1970 glacier avalanche triggered by a 7.9-
magnitude earthquake. That avalanche killed about half of the more than 50,000 earthquake victims.
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BENJAMIN MORALES, GEOLOGICAL ENGINEER (through translator): Peru is the country in the world that has had the largest number of disasters of
glacial origin. There is no other country that has had more than Peru.
That has been the case up to now and it will continue to be the same. And if there is no organization that can drain the lagoons and reduce this
risk, it is going to get worse.
ROMO (voice-over): Rafael Romo, CNN.
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ANDERSON: And that is it for CONNECT THE WORLD this evening. From the team working with me here in the UAE, it is a very good evening. Stay with CNN,
though. "ONE WORLD" is up next.
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