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U.S.-Israel War with Iran; SAE Launches Dozens of Strikes at Houthis; Netanyahu Warned of Hamas Attack before October 7; U.K., France and Canada to Ban Imports from Israeli Settlements; First-Ever Republican Midterm Convention Kicks Off in Texas; Major U.K. Flight Disruption Continues for Second Day; Hollywood's First AI Actor. Aired 10-10:45a ET

Aired September 09, 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): And welcome to the second hour of the show from our Middle East programming headquarters. I'm Becky Anderson

in Abu Dhabi, where the time is just after 6:00 in the evening.

A major escalation between the U.S. and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military hitting five Iranian tankers, sinking one of them, after Iran

fired ballistic missiles at a U.S. Navy warship.

The U.K., France and Canada moved to ban imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank as Britain accuses settlers of ethnic cleansing. Britain's

prime minister says his country is leading on the world stage on this.

And Republicans gathering in Dallas today for a GOP midterm convention. President Trump expected to deliver remarks in an effort to rally voters.

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ANDERSON: Well, claims and counterclaims out of the region today. But one thing is clear, we are seeing an escalation in fighting between the U.S.

and Iran, much of it playing out at sea.

Iran today says it has struck two U.S. Navy vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, causing, as they describe it, "extensive damage."

The U.S. says that is, quote, "completely false."

This after the U.S. military announced it had destroyed five Iranian oil tankers. The cycle of strikes and counterstrikes also including an Iranian

missile attack aimed at U.S. assets in Jordan.

Well, a lot to cover this hour. Joining us now, senior White House reporter, Kevin Liptak, and CNN's international diplomatic editor, Nic

Robertson, who is today in London.

Stand by, Nic.

Kevin, what more do we know about these latest escalations between the U.S. and Iran?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. And what Central Command is saying is that those five Iranian tankers were targeted in

retaliation after Iran tried to fire at U.S. Navy warships.

CENTCOM saying that none of those warships were struck and that those five Iranian tankers were, quote, "part of a multibillion dollar shadow network

that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies."

But clearly a very sharp escalation in the tensions, which come after president Trump said last week that there was, in fact, no firing and no

active hostilities between the U.S. and Iran. It wasn't really true at the time and it's certainly not true now after both sides in this seem to be

trying to draw some red lines for Iran.

Red lines at what tankers are targeted and the U.S. trying to maintain this position that Iran cannot fire at U.S. military assets.

Now president Trump had been trying to execute this plan of economic strangulation of Iran, to try and go after Iran's trading partners, to

choke off the regime, to create a financial hardship. That, in and of itself, is successful. You know, the economic realities on the ground in

Iran are becoming quite dire.

But it hasn't been successful in changing the Iranians' behavior. And I think the fear you hear among American officials, at least speaking

privately, is that, in fact, that will cause the Iranians to escalate even further, to try and break this stalemate that exists now in the Strait of

Hormuz.

The U.S. has been trying to escort ships out. They still remain at something of a trickle but they have been getting ships out. And that has

caused or has prevented, at least for now, a major uptick in oil prices although you are starting to see the price of oil, tick up today, heading

past the $100 a barrel benchmark that we hadn't seen since July.

And so, certainly, I think a lot of tensions and a lot of fears about where exactly this is heading. You also had the Iranians say that they had seized

an American underwater drone that was in the Strait of Hormuz, that, they say, was surveilling their attempts to lay mines. CENTCOM saying that that

was, in fact, an older piece of technology.

[10:05:00]

But I think more evidence that, the longer this goes on, the more adept Iran is becoming, both at monitoring the U.S.' abilities but also refining

their own abilities to create more targeted strikes on U.S. military assets in the region.

ANDERSON: And Nic, elsewhere in the region, Saudi Arabia carrying out 32 airstrikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen overnight into Wednesday,

following attacks the day before on Saudi oil infrastructure.

And sources have told me Saudi was planning a retaliation against the Houthis and had shared its plans both with the U.S. and other partners.

Should we expect more military action and how does this fit into the broader regional tension?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It absolutely fits in because part of what's happening, part of the Houthi agenda, the Iranian-backed

proxy, the most powerful Iranian proxy in the region, is to try to take more control of the Red Sea.

And the Red Sea has become an alternate shipping route to the Strait of Hormuz. So the logic is very simple. If Iran's proxy has control of the

entire Red Sea, then they can have a much more effective way of shutting down oil exports to the world, particularly to Asia, of course.

So I think, you know, that's part of the big frame. So the U.S. has an interest in this. The Houthis have, as you say, been hitting targets in

Saudi Arabia -- 73 civilians injured; the Saudis following that said they had a right to protect their sovereignty and national assets. And that

seems to be what they've done.

I think there's also been an understanding in the region over the weekend as well, when the Houthis began launching the strongest part of what

appeared to be a big offensive toward the Red Sea.

That it was Saudi airstrikes that helped hold them back and give some momentum to Yemeni government, the internationally recognized Yemeni

government forces on the ground. So I think that's going on clearly.

And if we look at where the Saudis -- or at least the Houthis say that the Saudis have hit with those 32 strikes inside of Yemen, that's significant.

Ma'rib, they say, is one of them. That's the Ma'rib governorate. That, in a way, is a bridgehead of Saudi support for Yemeni government forces.

They're claiming Yemeni government forces are claiming some successes in that area. It would give them closer access to the capital that the Houthis

hold, Al-Jawf as well, where the Houthis say there were strikes again. That's another route toward the capital, again, close to Saudi support,

close to Saudi border.

Hudaydah and Taiz, both on the western coast, on the Red Sea, Hudaydah stronghold, port city --

ANDERSON: Right.

ROBERTSON: -- controlled by the Houthis. If the Saudis can weaken there, you know, that paints the picture here that this is an effort to support

the Yemeni government forces on the ground as they push the Houthis back and try to take more control of the country.

So logically, that tells you the Saudis are stepping toward that longer, more durable commitment.

ANDERSON: Yes.

And a reminder that Nic was just in region last week. witnessing what was going on in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait there, that Red Sea waterway, that

strait there extremely important. Another choke point for the global economy, of course, adding a layer to this.

Nic, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Pakistan signed what was this historic Mecca joint defense agreement just last month. I'm sure our viewers will remember

that.

At what point then could this pact be invoked in a Article V type way -- you know, one hits; we all respond -- in this conflict between Saudi Arabia

and the Houthis?

And how likely is it that Pakistan and Turkiye would become involved?

ROBERTSON: Yes, look, I think there's a level of ground reality here that tells you, particularly Pakistan, because their pact with Saudi, their

military pact, was signed late last year.

Of course, Turkiye has come on board in the past month or so. But I was meeting with some senior Pakistan military officials, diplomatic officials

here earlier in the week. And I was asking them specifically about the situation in Yemen.

And Pakistan does have military forces that are there, advising and supporting and helping train the Saudi forces there. Pakistan is widely

regarded as having a big -- and it's been at war for 20 years -- an experienced military.

[10:10:03]

And they're lending that experience to Saudi forces.

When I said, look, what happens if the war gets bigger between Saudi and the Houthis in Yemen, do your forces go in?

I was told, look, Pakistani troops are not going in to Yemen at the moment. But clearly, if the region, gets in -- if the wars in the region, be it --

be it Saudi with the Houthis supporting the Yemeni government, internationally recognized; be it with Iran.

If that escalates, you know, Pakistan is committed and so be it Turkiye now as well, in a way, to support Saudi Arabia if it comes under intense

attack.

I don't think we're going to -- I don't think it -- the understanding is quite Article V, the way NATO has it -- you know, attack on one is an

attack on all.

But there's definitely this commitment to support each other at these -- at these stress points. And there's no doubt that the Pakistani military is

lending its experience to the Saudis right now. And some of those will be close to Yemen.

ANDERSON: It's fascinating, isn't it?

All right. To both of you, thank you.

This escalation here in the Middle East roiling global oil markets. Let's bring those markets back up. You can see the oil futures here reaching

their highest levels since July. Brent crude above 100; WTI crude, the U.S. index there, at 95.74. Anna Stewart with us now out of London.

You've been watching these markets, Anna; what do you make of what we're seeing?

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we're back at over $100 for Brent, which is a high that we haven't seen since July. So that is significant.

And we're seeing here, of course, a significant escalation in terms of the attempted attack on a U.S. Navy ship, the U.S. attacks on four Iranian

tankers. And that escalation -- and every time we get any kind of escalation -- we see traders, essentially, you know, reacting quite

strongly.

Now that means that that $100 a barrel, we could fall back, we could see these late $90 a barrel in the coming days if we don't see any further

attacks.

But, of course, it's not just the Strait of Hormuz. We also, for traders, are looking at the Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, the Bab-el-

Mandeb Strait. There is looming concerns about a supply crunch and traders really factoring in at this point, Becky, that it looks like a prolonged

conflict in the Middle East.

In July, when there was a ceasefire, when we had, you know, a pause in all of this conflict for ships, we saw prices drop quite significantly.

Now there are fears that this seems to be drifting ever further and, you know, many traders talking about how they're not really expecting to see

any change in terms of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz maybe until next year.

ANDERSON: Earlier, we saw the Iran-backed -- sorry, you mentioned those Houthi attacks and the Saudi strikes in retaliation. I wonder how much this

latest escalation is contributing to the spike in oil prices and how high they could go if both these pressure points remain.

And as you say, it looks like traders are pricing in a long war. I mean, speak to anybody around this region. You know, it feels like no peace, no

war. And this is being normalized. I wonder what normalization of a contested space actually looks like for the oil market medium, long-term.

STEWART: Yes. And it keeps on moving, that point where people feel like there's a baseline. We've actually just had an update from Goldman Sachs on

where they think oil prices will be.

They've upgraded their oil price expectation for the end of this year and next year by $5. That said, they're expecting at the end of this year oil

to be at $85 a barrel. So significantly less than where we are now.

And that's because they actually see a lot of dark flows. So this is when ships simply turn off their transponders so they are not targeted by

attacks -- or that is the plan so that there may be more supply going through than some people expect.

And also there's hope, of course, for more pipelines, particularly across a massive country like Saudi Arabia, to help navigate and remove oil from

certain crunch points on the Strait of Hormuz, for example.

That said, Becky, Goldman Sachs also have a worst-case scenario, with which they say in this note, if intensified, Hormuz and Red Sea shipping attacks

are likely, they expect, to see oil prices potentially at 120 barrels -- sorry; $120 a barrel by the end of this year.

Which, of course, would be quite significant and extremely painful for absolutely everyone. We will see inflation higher. We will see rates

increase and so on.

(LAUGHTER)

ANDERSON: Yes, and so on. And so it goes on.

(LAUGHTER)

ANDERSON: It's always good to have you. Thank you for keeping your eyes keenly on these markets for us.

You are watching CONNECT THE WORLD.

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Still to come, a stunning new report raises questions about what Israel's prime minister knew and when he knew it in the days before the October 7th,

2023, attack.

Plus, we're following a coordinated move by Britain, France and Canada, putting new pressure on Israel over its settlements in the occupied West

Bank.

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ANDERSON: Welcome back.

Israel's prime minister facing fierce backlash over what was a bombshell new report that his office calls an absolute lie. It claims Benjamin

Netanyahu was warned that Hamas was planning an operation more than a week before the militant group attacked on October 7th, 2023.

According to the report published in the Israeli newspaper, "Haaretz," the president of the UAE called Mr. Netanyahu 10 days before that attack to

tell him that a Hamas leader at the time, Yahya Sinwar, was planning a major move against Israel.

The report, based on findings from an upcoming book by two Israeli journalists. One of them explained to CNN, where he says that intelligence

came from.

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SHLOMI ELDAR, ISRAELI JOURNALIST: It's starting for a discussion that were between the Israeli Shin Bet and Yahya Sinwar representative, one of them,

about a talk about the lifting of Gaza blockade. And the discussion were took place in summer 2023.

The two representatives of Yahya Sinwar were Dr. Ghazi Hamad, the Hamas -- one of the Hamas political bureau, and one name that -- his nickname is

"Coal Eyes." He is affiliated to a Fatah movement. And the discussion were very intensive.

But in September 1st, one of the senior Shin Bet officer told me that, suddenly, Sinwar disappeared. And a week later, he called the Coal Eyes and

told him, tell the Israelis, if they are not going forward with the arrangement that we are talking now, I'm making a big surprise.

And he said -- the first -- the word "zilzal" in Arabic is earthquake. Netanyahu all the time said to the Israeli, if the security echelon will

wake me up before the 6th -- at the night of the October 6th, October 7th, I will be -- everything was different.

But now we can see that Netanyahu got the messages, got the warning before -- 10 days before the war. I think if he just act, anything, is doing

something to prevent this attack.

[10:20:04]

I think that we have more people alive today in Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Well, the UAE says it -- and I quote them here in a statement -- "does not comment on media stories or speculation regarding conversations between

government leaders" but did not deny the call, adding this quote.

"When necessary, all relevant intelligence has been and continues to be communicated between the relevant entities."

We are also following a major diplomatic rift over Israel's settlement policy. The U.K., France and Canada announcing plans for sanctions on what

they describe as illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Prime minister Andy Burnham in the U.K. defending the move, saying Britain

must stand against injustice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY BURNHAM, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: In this difficult and dangerous world, Britain has to stand for something. Britain has to show leadership. Britain

has to stand for fairness against injustice, where people are being bullied out of their homes, intimidated.

We will always stand with the underdog and take what action we can to support them. That, Mr. Speaker, is leadership on the world stage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, nine other Western nations say they will also introduce similar restrictions on trade or would work to support European sanctions.

Well, the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Saar, calls the sanctions, quote, "an absurd political decision and a morally corrupt move."

Settlement expansion has accelerated under prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and has made growing the settlements a key priority.

For more on this, let's bring in Julie Norman. She's an associate fellow with the international affairs think tank Chatham House and represents the

Middle East and North Africa Programme.

And firstly, I want you to just listen to Marco Rubio's reaction to the announcement of these U.K. sanctions on Israel. Stand by.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We were made aware that they were going to make this decision. We heard their arguments as to why. But

look, we share the goal of stability. We don't want to see some uptick in violence or an uptick in conflict or tensions in the West Bank at a very

tenuous time in the region.

There's always tenuous times. But beyond that, I don't think as of this moment, we don't have any further comment on the U.K. decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, if Israel had been hoping for a really firm defensive position from the U.S., they didn't get it.

What do you make of that?

JULIE NORMAN, ASSOCIATE FELLOW, CHATHAM HOUSE: Yes. Well, good afternoon, Becky. Yes, I mean, we heard a rather muted response there from Rubio,

didn't we?

And I think this is somewhat just a testament to the fact that the U.S. just has other priorities right now in the Middle East -- obviously, first

and foremost, Iran, the Strait of Hormuz.

When it comes even to Palestine and Israel, they're really focusing more on Gaza, on Trump's 15-point plan from last month. And I would say the U.S.

has been pretty quiet on the West Bank in general.

Ambassador Huckabee has made some more pointed comments about this new announcement from the U.K. in particular. But we haven't heard much from

Trump or from the rest of the administration.

That's not to say it won't come later. But for now, it seems like the U.S. is saying, look, we're not happy with this but we're not jumping on the

ella percussion (ph) bandwagon with Israel, at least not right away, either.

ANDERSON: Yes. The U.S. ambassador, Mike Huckabee, making some pretty pointed threats about, you know, the impact for British businesses that do

business with Israel and, indeed, U.S. businesses that do business with the U.K.

What we're hearing is that those comments weren't sanctioned or cleared by the White House, which is interesting. I'm just wondering -- and I know

you're on -- in the West Bank in the summer. I do want you just to talk about your experience there.

But I wonder, you know, realistically, are these sanctions going to change anything in the West Bank?

NORMAN: Yes, Becky. So I would say, in terms of material impact, they'll be somewhat minimal at least to start. The trade of goods between the U.K.

and Israel that comes from settlements is just a fraction of the trade.

So in terms of goods trade, it's not massive. But a couple of things to consider. One is that, again, this is not just the U.K. making this move

anymore; it's a whole, you know, group of states, including Canada and France.

Second is that the U.K.'s policy looks like it's going to extend beyond goods to include what we call services, things like banking, construction,

real estate. So there's a lot more potential for impact there.

And the third thing I'll say is just, even for those who see this as symbolic, it's extremely important symbolism.

[10:25:04]

It's a very important political, significant move in the sense of the U.K. saying, we will not take part in supporting settlements that we see as the

primary obstacle to a two-state solution. And that's a very clear message to have to have stated that overtly by the U.K.

ANDERSON: And I wonder whether you think this will have any effect on internal Israeli politics with the elections coming up.

I mean, you know, how damaging or not, do you believe these moves are for the current government?

I mean, you know, in light of the other story that we've been doing today, which is the news or the reports in "Haaretz" that Netanyahu knew about or

was told about the October 7th attacks ahead of time by the UAE.

I'm just wondering, is this further pressure on an embattled Israeli prime minister at this point or not?

What do you make of all of this?

NORMAN: You know, I would say, when we're this close to the elections, you know, less than two months, I think every story becomes part of the

political story.

But you're right, compared to other stories that we're breaking just this week in Israel, compared to other domestic issues that are really pushing a

lot of the vote right now, I don't think this particular move will make or break the election.

But with that said, Netanyahu will certainly try and use it to his advantage. He is kind of known for doubling down on what's called a siege

mentality and this idea of Israel being isolated.

But likewise, I think the opposition will use this move to say, look, like other countries are looking at what Israel is doing, they don't see this as

the Israel that they've recognized from the past. And they're putting pressure on us to change. So I think you'll see different politicians

playing this different ways.

ANDERSON: Finally, you know, I suggest that you have been on the West Bank recently. What, you know, your thoughts?

NORMAN: Yes. I mean, I was there in the West Bank for about a month this summer. I traveled there pretty regularly. I've been visiting for over 20

years now.

And I can say, Becky, I mean, the situation is worse than I've ever seen it. The growth of the settlements, they have always been there. But now you

cannot pass between any two Palestinian cities or Palestinian village in a city, you know, trips of, you know, five or 10 kilometers without seeing

the settlements.

And everything that goes along with them, which includes checkpoints, barriers, closures for Palestinians. It's making life extremely difficult

just on a day-to-day basis. And, of course, we see this surge of settler violence as well. And that's very evident when you're on the ground there.

ANDERSON: Yes, we're reporting on that on a regular basis. I myself have witnessed the same. It's worrying. Good to have you on today. Thank you

very much indeed. Important stuff.

Still to come, the U.S. president and the Republican Party are about to host a new type of political gathering.

Could it help their candidates during the midterm elections?

That's the question. And we'll take a closer look at that after the break.

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ANDERSON (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD from our Middle East programming

headquarters. These are your headlines this hour.

Iran says it plans to expand its own maritime control in the Persian Gulf region. The announcement comes amid a spike in attacks and counterattacks

between the U.S. and Iran, including strikes at sea, which, according to the U.S. military, destroyed five Iranian oil tankers.

Well, a Russian drone strike at a border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova has killed two people and wounded three others. A Russian strike

also sparked a fire at a food industry building in the Kyiv region overnight. Video released by Ukraine's emergency services shows

firefighters battling that blaze.

The head of Britain's air traffic control system has been summoned to a meeting with the U.K. transport minister. This comes as airlines try to get

their flights back on track after an air traffic control outage hit U.K. airports on Tuesday. And we are hearing of more flight delays and

cancellations today.

ANDERSON: In just about six hours, the U.S. Republican Party will kick off its first-ever midterm convention. Now this is a version of the type

usually held in presidential election years. The party faithful gathering in Dallas, Texas, where U.S. president Donald Trump is expected to be among

the speakers.

Some of the better known Republican names aren't going. Political observers say there's concern about possibly alienating swing voters by appearing at

what Republicans are called -- are calling Trump-a-palooza. Steve Contorno, CNN's correspondent, standing by in Dallas for us.

Trump-a-palooza, holding a midterm convention, something new.

What's expected, Steve?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly looks like a convention here. And it's going to sound like a convention. There will be

speeches and a balloon drop. But it's not a typical convention. The Republican Party has never held an election when the president is not on

the ballot. And that is what is taking place this year.

The midterm elections, though, will determine who controls the party, Congress going forward. And that is what is at stake and what will be the

focus of tonight's proceedings and tomorrow night.

There will be an attempt by Donald Trump and his party to convince Republican voters to get enthused and show up in the same way that they

would if he was on the ballot. And that really is one of the central tests and challenges for Donald Trump and Republicans going into the next two

months.

He is unmistakably the most popular figure in his party but he is also not a particularly popular figure in the country. And so in this election,

where we don't know what turnout will look like and we don't know what kind of enthusiasm there will be from voters who are not Democrats or paying

attention.

They have to try to get a number of Republicans on their side to be convinced, just as they would if this was a normal election year. So you're

going to see, over the next two days, this party try to solve that problem. But there's some bigger headwinds facing them when they have a president

whose approval rating is at 35 percent.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, Steve. We'll check back in there as things gear up.

Right. Airlines scrambling to clear a backlog on the second day of major flight disruptions at British airports, including Heathrow, the seventh

busiest airport in the world, of course.

In the last hour, I spoke to CNN's Clare Sebastian, who has been reporting from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are still seeing, as you say, that major backlog, which has left, of course, passengers stranded and crew and

planes in the wrong places.

Which has meant that, today, again, according to data from Cirium analytics, which is an aviation analytics company, we're seeing 327 flights

canceled across U.K. airports.

ANDERSON: Yes.

SEBASTIAN: That's about 5.5 percent of the normal schedule. If you compare that, I think we can pull up a graphic to yesterday. We saw about 30

percent of the flights arriving and departing that just didn't take off or were canceled.

[10:35:04]

So things are improving. It's still not a normal day.

It's still not business as usual. Passengers are still being advised to check with their airlines but look, they are working to clear the backlog

in terms of what exactly went wrong. Well, they're calling it a technical issue. They say that it's resolved. This is according to NATS, the National

Air Traffic Services.

This is a part government-owned provider of air traffic control services to major U.K. airports. They are not saying what exactly it was as of yet but

they are denying that it is the same problem that caused the major outage in 2023. They're saying that it is something new.

The CEO of NATS was hauled in to see the British Transport Minister earlier today. And the government has ordered a very quick investigation. They want

the company to report back in a week.

But they are saying, despite calls from some airlines -- in particular, Ryanair -- for the CEO to be sacked, they are saying that as of now they

have confidence in him.

But Ryanair, so far, among the airlines who are obviously very affected by this, very disrupted and facing higher costs, Ryanair the most outspoken.

Take a listen to the COO of that airline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEAL MCMAHON, RYANAIR CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER: Enough is enough. It's time for the U.K. government to intervene, so we can finally get NATS up

and running and fix the chronic ATC issues that we've had over the last number of years.

We've seen ATC charges go up 28 percent despite we continue to get worse and worse performance under Martin Roth's leadership.

We once again call on the U.K. government to fix U.K. ATC and put somebody in charge who can do the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So look, all of this, of course, translates into higher costs for the airlines in terms of looking after the passengers, providing food

and water and all that for those stranded, rebooking them. The cost of moving airlines around and updating the schedule.

They've been working through the night on that. We're hearing all of that mount and, of course, this is already a difficult year for airlines with

the rising cost of jet fuel. So it's another problem layered on top of the challenges they're already facing, Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: All right. Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now.

And Norway's King Harald V is being laid to rest today, marking the end of 13 days of national mourning. Their heads of state and members of royal

families from around the world were invited, including Britain's Prince William. King Harald spent more than three decades on the throne and died

at the age of 89.

President Trump gave three female White House aides $45,000 each last Christmas. Among those who received the money, Natalie Harp.

The executive assistant's relationship to the president has been attracting interest in recent weeks after Harp left the G20 summit with Trump on Air

Force One following fears of an assassination attempt.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. There is more news. Stay with us.

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ANDERSON: One AI studio is looking to change the film industry with what it says is its first AI actor, the digital character named Tilly Norwood.

And it's raising questions about the use of AI in Hollywood. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister met Tilly to find out whether the controversial

creation can actually act.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tilly Norwood is known as the first AI actor but this is what happened when we

asked her to act during her first on-camera interview.

WAGMEISTER: Can you improv a scene?

Say that you just found out that your dog died. Now act.

What would you do if this was an audition?

TILLY NORWOOD, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ACTRESS: Oh, Elizabeth, that's a tough one. If this were an audition, I'd probably just stand here

completely still, feeling the digital ache of it.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): The fact is Tilly can't actually act. She or it, needs a series of prompts to tell it what to do. Once inputted, the initial

results weren't great.

NORWOOD: What is it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's Barney. He didn't make it through the night. I'm so sorry.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): But as the prompts were refined, it got better.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's Barney. He didn't make it through the night. I'm so sorry.

NORWOOD: No.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): After hours of computer work, this is the final scene Particle 6 created after our interview and later sent to CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just got done with the vet. It's not looking too good right now.

WAGMEISTER: You said that you want Tilly to be the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman.

ELINE VAN DER VELDEN, PARTICLE 6 PRODUCTIONS: In AI, yes. It's not to replace anything in the traditional filmmaking scenario. That's not what

she's made for.

She's never meant to replace any actor. I totally understand why people don't like it.

I thought it was very scary when I first saw AI. Once you start playing around with the tools, you start to understand it, it removes some of the

mystique and that makes you feel like, oh, it's not going to take over the world, at least not in entertainment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: What do you think about that?

Let me know @beckycnn on both Insta and X.

That's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST" is up next.

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(MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST)

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