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Connect the World

Houthis Celebrate Military Advances Against Yemeni Government; Trump's Next Moves Unclear as Efforts to End Iran War Stall; Trump Administration Approves Sale of F-35 Jets to Saudi Arabia; Russia Holds First Parliamentary Elections Since Ukraine War; Visit Qatar CEO Talks to CNN About Restoring Visitor Growth. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired September 18, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: You're looking at live pictures of supporters of the Houthis rallying to celebrate military advances

against Yemeni government forces in the West. It is 04:00 p.m. in Sanaa. It is 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Eleni Giokos.

This is "Connect the World". Also coming up on the show, a new CNN analysis finds Republicans are largely leaving President Trump out of their TV ads

going into the midterm elections. Meanwhile, a U.N. investigation finds that the deadly U.S. strike on Iranian girls' school may have been a war

crime.

Polls opened in Russia in the first parliamentary election since the beginning of the war with Ukraine in 2022. Right, we're around 30 minutes

away from the start of trade on Wall Street. I want to check in on how the market futures are faring. It is Friday, end of the week.

It's also been consequential because it's the first-rate hike by the Federal Reserve of quarter of a percent. On Wednesday, market settling

since that decision, you've got the DOW down three tenths of a percent, S&P flat, and NASDAQ a bit of a gain at this point in time.

We'll check on those numbers a little later in the show. In the meantime, a very serious charge coming from the United Nations aimed at the United

States just ahead of the organization's General Assembly in New York. U.N. investigators say they have grounds to believe the United States committed

war crimes in Iran.

The claim is based on two incidents at the start of the war. The first, an attack that hit a school in the southern City of Minab at the end of

February. At least 156 people, including 120 children, are believed to have died. The second, happening on the same day, the U.S. military struck a

sports center and residential area in the City of Lamerd.

The U.N. says 22 civilians were killed in that attack. We've got CNN Producer Leila Gharagozlou joining us now to give us a bit more insight

into this report. Leila, good to see you. So, what is the U.N. report asserting right now about the United States strike in Iran killing those

schoolgirls?

LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER: Yeah. So, as you said, this report is looking at the Minab school that killed 120 children, and they're saying

that this is negligence on the part of the U.S. They said very specifically that the U.S.'s failure to update information in relation to the school and

its targeting databases, and to verify that the building was a military objective before launching the attack, went beyond negligence.

And this is because many people were saying that this school was actually an IRGC base, and that's what the U.S. thought. They hadn't updated any of

their systems in almost a decade before hitting the school, and ended up killing 120 kids because they hit in the middle of the day.

Now this has become a huge issue in Iran. It's something that people have referenced over and over again throughout the course of this war. They've

now made the school a memorial to the children. And I do think it's important to remember that this is a very small community.

It is a very poor community, and this crime essentially has happened within them, and they're having a very hard time recovering. It's been very, very

devastating.

GIOKOS: All right. So, I also want to, you know, give you a bit of insight of Trump speaking out about the wider conflict and on an interview with

Axios, and I want to show you this. Have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them, or do I not? It is a big decision.

Anything could happen with me. So, what can we read into that? I mean, we've heard the word annihilation before, frankly.

GHARAGOZLOU: Yeah. I mean, as you know, Trump has said this time and time again. He really vacillates between you know ramping up the war and drawing

down the war. He's constantly saying, you know, I'm going to send them back to the Stone Ages, or they want to negotiate.

So, this is something we've heard often, and we actually have a compilation of that. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night.

We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GHARAGOZLOU: So, this is something that we've heard him say time and time again. So, it's going to be really interesting to see what happens in the

next week or so, particularly with the United Nations General Assembly happening and this potential meeting with GCC leaders,

And what they're going to think of an annihilation or a peace plan. Now, the Iranians, for their part, have been incredibly consistent throughout

the war. They've said we won't accept a no peace, no war purgatory state. We either need to make a deal and stick to the deal, or we need to just go

through the war and get to the other side.

So again, we're going to have to see what happens between these two sides and whether they are going to ramp up and move on from these little

skirmishes that we've seen over the last month or so.

GIOKOS: Yeah. I mean, inflammatory language coming through from President Trump time and time again, as you say of course, UNGA happening next week.

We know President Trump is going to be meeting with Gulf leaders.

[09:05:00]

Who knows what happens then?

GHARAGOZLOU: Will see.

GIOKOS: Lots of things to watch. Leila Gharagozlou, thank you so much for joining us. All right, the Trump Administration has announced a

controversial move to sell some of the most advanced American fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. The potential sale would hand the Saudis dozens of F-35

jets and related equipment worth more than 24 billion dollars.

Israel has objected to the idea, and U.S. law requires Washington to preserve Israel's military edge in the region. Congress still has to give

its approval for the transaction to go through. And as the U.S. military faces scrutiny over its conduct in the war with Iran, it is also shifting

some of its firepower elsewhere.

CNN has learned the Pentagon is moving MQ-9 Reaper drones from Africa to South America ahead of anticipated counter narcotics and counter-terrorism

operations. Sources tell CNN most of the drones could be transferred potentially for operations in Ecuador. Now that is despite concerns about

the continuing terror threat in Africa.

CNN's Haley Britzky joins us now with the details. Haley, good to see you. Why is the administration making this move right now? Tell me about the

timing here.

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah. So, we've seen over the last year, Eleni, so much firepower moving into the South

America region and the Caribbean, particularly as the U.S. has carried out what they've named Operation Southern Spear on these alleged drug boats in

the Eastern Pacific and in the Caribbean.

But six sources telling us now that these MQ-9 Reaper drones, which are used for intelligence collection, used to carry out precision strikes, are

being moved from U.S. Africa Command to U.S. Southern Command ahead of, as you've mentioned, expected counter narcotics and counter terror operations

in the region, particularly possible operations within Ecuador.

And this is coming after we've heard in recent weeks from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, sort of praising a

lot of the countries in South America for their increased cooperation with the U.S. for inviting the U.S. military to partake in joint operations

against drug cartels and alleged drug traffickers.

And so, sources saying that we could be seeing more activity there. But this also comes, you know, there are only so many resources, right? And

sources kept pointing to that. There are limited number of these Reaper drones. And so, it follows within the prioritization of what the U.S.

military is prioritizing.

But there's a lot of concern here that Africa kind of consistently is falling at the end of this list of priorities. And sources saying that

those operations in Africa, particularly against ISIS and against groups like Al Shabaab, will continue, but that there is concern that this could

make it more difficult.

So, you know, sort of a shifting of priorities here. We've seen that the Pentagon has made Homeland Defense, the Western Hemisphere defense, its

number one priority in the national defense strategy released earlier this year. But what could be coming as far as more potential action is still to

be seen, Eleni?

GIOKOS: Yeah, I mean it's really interesting because Africa operations are very important as well to try and contain threats of militant groups. Is

there a concern in terms of what you heard from the intelligence community about that void that will be created without these drones on African soil?

BRITZKY: Yeah, there absolutely is concern, and particularly as we've seen the U.S. military footprint sort of change and decrease over the last few

years. I think there's a broad concern that the sort of ability to see what is going on in Africa is dwindling. And certainly, with the loss of these

drones, which provide that kind of oversight and intelligence into what's happening on the ground, those concerns are only increasing.

So, what that could mean for the U.S. military's operations in Africa still kind of yet to be seen. Sources were very adamant that they would be able

to meet the mission, but of course, we're never going to hear a military commander say they have all that they need or that they don't need any more

equipment or assistance in their mission, but it is raising serious concerns within that community.

GIOKOS: Well, Haley Britzky, thank you so much for your reporting. Thank you. All right, Russians are voting in the country's first parliamentary

election since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is taking place against the backdrop of an intensifying conflict. At least two people were

killed overnight in Russian strikes on Ukraine, which also showed Poland temporarily closed two of its airports, despite a crackdown on dissent in

Russia, which included the barring of the country's only anti-war party.

The elections are being viewed as a gage of public opinion on the conflict -- Clare Sebastian is following developments from London for us. Clare, so

critics point out that success for the ruling party is a foregone conclusion yet the elections do absolutely matter. So, tell us why.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, paradoxically, in any sense, as you point out, this is not a democratic exercise in its true sense.

[09:10:00]

But that doesn't mean that the Kremlin doesn't still rely on public support or at the very least, public acceptance or frankly apathy in some cases to

their rule, and in particular when it comes to the war. So, what we saw in the lead up to this election was the removal of real opponents before they

actually went to the polls.

So Yabloko, which is the only anti-war party that remained on the ballot, was barred in a court case in August. There were other candidates labeled

foreign agents and things like that, and that meant that they could carry out this vote with the trappings of democracy, this sort of theatrical

show, and then claim legitimacy for that.

And Putin laid out in a speech on Wednesday exactly what he wanted to get out of this vote. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA: Your choice and your will once again demonstrate that millions of people are behind our soldiers, that we are a

united people bound together by shared values, historical memory, and love for our home land.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: Well, I mean, look. Of course, it will show that the people are behind Russia's soldiers because they have no option to not vote for a

party that is behind the war. So, I think, look, you see the sort of farcical nature of this, but as we said, still matters to the Kremlin.

And look, another way they are trying to legitimize their war through this vote is by holding voting in areas of occupied Ukraine that the Kremlin has

claimed to annex. I think we can show you some pictures there. There has been early voting in these regions, and the images that are emerging really

show the true nature of this.

Men in military fatigues and masks carrying ballot boxes into rural areas. The Ukraine is obviously very concerned about this. The foreign ministry

has labeled it a farce and an illegal spectacle, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Right, Clare Sebastian. Thank you so much for this. I want to bring in more in-depth analysis of Russia's parliamentary election that you can

read. Go to cnn.com. There you're going to find the interview with the co- founder of an anti-war party banned from running, as well as some views from the voters as well.

All right, so 46 days and counting until the U.S. midterms, and President Trump has made clear he wants the election to be all about him, even though

he's not on the ballot. But Republican campaign ads are largely doing the opposite and steering clear of his name.

In fact, a CNN analysis shows Republicans aired more than 500 TV ads between September 1st and the 15th. Just 12 mentioned the U.S. President,

and that's in contrast to Democrats who have aired 95 ads using Mr. Trump's name during the same time frame, accounting for about a fifth of their ad

spending.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny joins us now live from Washington. Jeff, good to see you. President Trump has repeatedly been telling his supporters, pretend I'm on

the ballot. So why aren't Republican ads doing that?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, he is -- his name is not on the ballot, but Democrats are sure trying to put

his policies, agenda, and overall job approval rating on the ballot, but this analysis is quite interesting because it really shows what is really

happening underneath the surface here.

With about six weeks to go before the U.S. midterm elections. Republicans have some strategic choices here about where they are spending their money

here, and as you said, just 12 of 500 ads in some of the top races are mentioning the president at all by Republicans.

But Democrats on the other side are mentioning him constantly in many of these top Senate races. They're trying to tie him to these Republican

candidates, tie them to the unpopular Iran war, tie them to the economy, other things. So, what is also interesting? It's not just Republican

candidates distancing themselves from the president, which we see in election after election with an unpopular president.

It's Trump's own political network, his own top advisers, his own brain trust, if you will, deciding that he's not the best messenger. And talking

to those Republican strategists, one said, look, the president is not the right message or the right messenger at this time.

So, it really underscores how much of a liability he is. However, the Republican strategy is also to overwhelm Democrats with money, and that is

happening in every Senate race in America, with the exception of Georgia, Republicans have a spending advantage.

They are using their money to try and knock down, attack, disqualify these Democratic Senate contenders.

GIOKOS: Oh, interesting. I also want to just bring our attention to Vice President J.D. Vance and what he said on the podcast All-In Podcast this

week. Take a listen to his pitch to voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: There's a lot of good that's been done, but there's a lot of work left to do. Don't give

power to the people who cause the problems that we're fixing.

[09:15:00]

Give us another chance, or give us another couple of years to continue to work on the amazing things that we've been doing for the past two years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: OK, is there a disconnect here between his message and what President Trump is putting out there?

ZELENY: There's no doubt about it. There is. I mean, what the vice president is trying to do there is effectively saying, look, we know things

aren't perfect. We know things aren't going well, but give us a little more time. But the quote, there, give us another chance.

That is something that really caught our attention because the bottom line is, Democrats will seize upon that. You've had your chance, and what

progress has been made. But for the president, he talks about how the economy is the hottest in the world. He's never really acknowledging the

fact that there is economic pain out there.

So that certainly is a bit of a discordant message. But the vice president, for his part, is traveling to Iowa today, a place where there is a very

important Senate race, governors' races, House races. We will see if Republican candidates continue to distance themselves from the White House.

But there's no doubt there's Democratic optimism, but there's also a bit of realism here is that this is a very close contest, and Republicans have a

big spending advantage, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yeah, I mean, OK, they've got the spending advantage, but there's one thing you can't hide away from. You know, sky high gas and diesel

prices, diesel prices at records.

ZELENY: Right.

GIOKOS: I mean, you've got the Federal Reserve hiking rates for the first time in three years. How are Republicans dealing with that reality?

ZELENY: Look, it is a frustration for the president. I can't think of a week as we sort of end our Friday here on another week where the president

has been dealt so many setbacks, from the Supreme Court on mail-in ballots to the Kennedy Center to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, the

House voted to effectively urge the administration to end the Iran war.

There are fissures growing here between Republicans and the White House, but there's no doubt the biggest campaign billboard, the biggest

advertisement of all the millions spent, perhaps is that sign at your local gas station. And you are absolutely right. The diesel prices, which of

course is going to affect the prices of so many goods here in the U.S. record highs, about 625, 630, 640.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

ZELENY: This is also going to hit farmers hard as they begin their harvest season here. So, for all the proclamations of President Trump saying gas

prices will come down. Well, we are just six weeks before the election, and they're going up, not down.

GIOKOS: And Jeff, you and I know the one thing that really matters for voters is what happens with their money in their pockets. So, it'll be

interesting one to watch.

ZELENY: Right.

GIOKOS: We always appreciate your analysis, Jeff Zeleny, for us.

ZELENY: My pleasure.

GIOKOS: You're watching "Connect the World". And still to come, Germany's far right surging again as voters prepare to head to the polls this

weekend. CNN's Fred Pleitgen hits the AfD campaign trail, where supporters are rallying on communist-era motor scooters. Bring you this right after

the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:00]

GIOKOS: Earlier, we talked about elections in Russia. Now to another consequential vote in Europe. Germany's far-right AfD is hoping to score

another major election victory this weekend as it surges in the polls in the country's former communist east. The party is capitalizing on economic

anxiety and growing anger at Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Germany's right-wing AfD looking to race to another state election victory

in the former communist east of the country, doing 25 miles an hour on old socialist-era motorbikes, like at this campaign event.

Their most potent fuel voter anger at Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a participant who would only give his first name Chris, tells me. He's the

wrong guy, Chris says. He had his chance. He will never be able to recover. Many people just feel this man is incapable.

The AfD is leading the polls here in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, capitalizing not just on Germany's economic turmoil, but also propagating mass

deportations of undocumented foreigners, as well as ending all military aid to Ukraine and renewing ties with Russia.

A position the AfD's candidate for governor tells me aligns them with the Trump Administration. Like America First, we want Germany first, he says.

That's our core value, and it's also good for international stability if Germany is stable in the middle of Europe, with good relations with the

U.S. and towards the east.

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern could be the AfD's second big win in only a matter of weeks. In early September, they beat Merz's CDU in the State of Saxony-

Anhalt by a landslide. A desperate Friedrich Merz then attacked the AfD's mass deportation policy, which they themselves call remigration in German

Parliament.

If what you demand became true, remigration, which is nothing more than ethnic cleansing by skin color and country of origin, he says. But so far,

Merz's political counterpunches don't seem to be landing. His popularity has fallen off a cliff, and there's a discussion even among some in his own

party about him possibly being replaced as chancellor soon.

Merz himself says he will not step down, but back at the AfD's communist era scooter rally, Chris explains how Merz lost his vote. Many voters feel

they're just not interesting for the chancellor, he says that's why I think maybe it's not just a protest vote, but you have to try something new if

the old doesn't work.

A sentiment that appears to be growing in parts of Germany, jeopardizing the current government and turbocharging the far right. Fred Pleitgen, CNN,

Schwerin, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Right up next on "Connect the World", the start of trading and the business headlines, including tourism numbers in the region cut in half in

some cases since the start of the Iran War. But there's still room for optimism, and we'll explain why. In the meantime, as you can see, it's a

mix start for Wall Street today.

NASDAQ slightly to the positive. DOW is down three tenths of a percent. As you can see, S&P battling to find its feet right now. It is the last day of

the trading week. We'll look into those numbers right after this. Join us for the opening bell in New York City. Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:00]

GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi. You're watching "Connect the World". A U.N. team of investigators says, the United States

may have committed war crimes at the start of its war with the run. The independent fact-finding mission says there are grounds to believe the U.S.

twice launched indiscriminate attacks in late February, killing civilians, including 120 children at the elementary school.

Voting is underway in Russia as the country holds its first parliamentary election since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A victory for the ruling

party is widely expected, and the country's only anti-war party has been barred from running. Ukraine has dismissed the vote in Russian-occupied

areas, as a farce.

Less than two months until the U.S. midterms, and Republicans are increasingly distancing themselves from President Trump. On TV, at least, a

CNN analysis found Republican candidates and their allies are devoting less than 1 percent of their campaign ad spending to TV spots specifically

mentioning Mr. Trump.

Well Germany's far-right AfD is hoping for another election victory this weekend as it surges in the country's east. The party is capitalizing on

economic anxiety and growing dissatisfaction with Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Well, CNN is keeping track of what the war with Iran is doing to

economies in this region, and today we look at Qatar.

Among the sectors, the tourism industry has suffered a setback since the conflict began. The numbers give you some idea of the impact. In 2025,

Qatar welcomed 5.1 million international tourists. In the first eight months of this year, it was less than 2.4 million at the Arabian travel

market in Dubai.

I spoke with the CEO of Visit Qatar, who told me he's confident that tourism is going to be making a comeback. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABDULAZIZ ALI AL-MAWLAWI, CEO OF VISIT QATAR: Very hopeful, considering the crisis that we are going through.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

AL-MAWLAWI: I think the number are good enough to give us some good promises for the future that we can get into the moment and back again.

We've been through a very good years, like for the past three years post World Cup, the number we are growing. As you mentioned, we have reached 5.1

in 2025.

But up to now, in August, up to August, we have reached 2.4 million visitors, considering the airspace closure and the crisis. So, it was a

good number that I think will keep the momentum there for us to fly again once all the situation being solved, hopefully in the region, and we can go

back to our target, which is like 6 to 7 million by 2030.

I think we can reach the target, hopefully, if things went better. So, I think we reached the number of mission summer, which where we have

announced for our summer campaign Helal Saeed, which we're welcoming all the families, individuals within the region, we had in our strategy that

the first period post the crisis, we want to focus on the region and the closure, like market.

Then we go beyond that. So, during winter, you will see us more into Europe and more into Asia and India. Then, like early next year, it will be wider

again to the normal like priority markets what we have. This was very important step to reshuffle our priority and to spend more efficient,

because we think that people in the region, they understand the situation much better than anyone --

GIOKOS: So domestic tourism and regional tourism is so important,

AL-MAWLAWI: Exactly. And that's where we saw a lot of cars from like GCC countries and the region during summer. In August, more than 300,000

visitors during that period. So, I think the numbers are promising to get back into the -- to the same moment that you had before.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[09:30:00]

GIOKOS: All right. So, you can see more of that interview on next month's edition of marketplace Middle East, right here on CNN. So, we're watching

the opening bell on Wall Street, which is about to happen in just a few seconds' time, and of course, there we go live to the New York Stock

Exchange and trade for this Friday officially starting.

And it's been quite a week, I have to say. We saw the first interest rate hike of a quarter of a percent, first time in three years. Pretty shocking

for some, given that President Trump has been very clear about wanting to see lower interest rates for longer. But of course, inflationary pressures

pushing that forward.

As you can see, Dow Jones up down slightly, losing around 52 points in early trade. Now Warren Buffett is stepping down as Chairman of Berkshire

Hathaway. The legendary investor has served in that post since 1970, I mean, this is big news. He'll be chairman emirates, and his son Howard will

become chairman the late last, late last year, rather.

The 96-year-old ended his long tenure as the CEO of his Nebraska-based conglomerates, known as The Oracle of Omaha. Warren Buffett has a net worth

of $145 billion. That's according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index. I mean, this is really big news. It's a start of a new era, I would guess, and of

course, looking at those markets right now, mixed start to the trading day.

Right this week, the Head of Etihad Airways told me he's worried about the prolonged impacts of high jet fuel prices, saying higher air fares next

year could be the result. Now, a number of U.S. airlines say the cost of fuel means they're expecting to cut flights in the months ahead, United,

American, and Southwest Airlines are all saying they'll have to reduce capacity despite strong demand.

David Goldman joins me now live from New York. David, you know, a few months ago when this war started, people were warning about this being a

potential sort of worst-case scenario. Here it is becoming a reality. I mean, airlines are going to be buckling under the pressure of jet fuel

prices. Take me through it.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: They already are. I mean, as you mentioned, these three airlines behind me. They are already cutting

cheap flights. Now, we have seen this over the course of time, even before the war, as airlines move to a toward a more premium kind of experience.

They get a lot more money out of business class and first class, and so you probably noticed if you're flying economy like I do, you got a cramped

seat. There's fewer of them available, but higher jet fuel prices are going to cause that to continue. So, we've got three airlines that are doing

this.

Why are they doing this? Well, jet fuel prices are up significantly, causing air fares to go up significantly, 23.5 percent over the course of

the past year. That's really a lot of money if you're paying to go across country, across the pond. That's a ton of money because jet fuel prices are

now $4.53.

That's up 91, almost 92 percent over the course of the past year. What is going on here? Why is this happening? Well, we know that airlines have an

incredible price sensitivity when jet fuel prices go up. For every one penny that jet fuel prices rise, it costs an airline $50 million a year.

And so, when they've doubled, when prices have gone up more than $2.50, that is a ton of money they need to raise prices, and people are still

spending on travel, and it's allowing them to do it. How is this happening? Why is this happening? Well, believe it or not, it has to do a lot with

diesel.

Diesel prices have also doubled over the course of the war. We're now above $6.45 in the United States. It was under $4 to start before the war. The

reason that diesel is affecting jet fuel is because there is only so much refining capacity in the world. Here in the United States, we are operating

at 98 percent capacity, which means if we want to make more diesel to compensate for the lack of it coming out of the Strait of Hormuz.

And now Russia's -- Ukraine's bombardment of Russian diesel refineries, well, we're going to have to make less of something, and that's jet fuel

that's lifting prices.

GIOKOS: Yeah, that is just so scary. I mean, firstly, there's nothing wrong with flying economy. I wonder if airlines are going to try and get you know

higher ticket prices on business and first class to subsidize people like you and me. But I mean, the question is, we've been looking sort of at the

timeline on like how long this is going to take.

[09:35:00]

And really the center point of all of this is the Strait of Hormuz, which has really exacerbated the Russia-Ukraine war impact on jet fuel.

GOLDMAN: That's right. And so, if you can't get oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, well, where is it going to come from? Well, we know that there's an

increase in the United States about 900,000 barrels per day more out of this country than there were before the war, and we've also seen Venezuela,

Brazil.

That's helping, but it's not helping enough because we lost 13 million barrels of oil a day during the Iran war.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: You add on the 12 percent of diesel exports that Russia has created that's not going out anymore. You've got yourself a supply chuck.

GIOKOS: All right, David Goldman. Thank you for always bringing us the good news on the oil price front.

GOLDMAN: Oh yeah, always good news.

GIOKOS: At least you try to. Thank you, sir. All right, doom and gloom David Goldman, thank you, sir. All right, up next, the Buffalo Bills and

Josh Allen open their new stadium in style. I'll be right back. Stick with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: Welcome back. Wine production in France is facing an uncertain future after the country's brutally hot summer. CNN's Melissa Bell spoke to

winemakers in France's Medoc region about the impact the heat is having on this year's harvest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Never had the harvest started this early in Saint Julien. In the Medoc region, as

elsewhere, France's hottest summer on record is changing wine and producing smaller, thicker-skinned grapes.

DAMIEN BARTON, CHATEAU LEOVILLE BARTON: Because there's little juice, of course, the effort we put in a vineyard is divided by the volume we get out

of it. So, the cost of production for a single bottle of wine will be through the roof. For the consumer side, it's wonderful.

For the producer side, it's going to cost us a lot of money to produce a single bottle.

BELL (voice-over): And times have been tough for producers of Bordeaux wines for a while, partly because the world is thinking much less of it

than it did.

ROBERT JOSEPH, WINE EXPERT AND INDUSTRY ANALYST: In the 1980s, there were 20,000 individual Bordeaux estates. Today, there are around 5000, although

it's probably 4900 and whatever, and we're losing them probably at the rate of one a day.

They're either up between the vines or being swallowed by the next-door vineyard.

BELL (voice-over): Fewer drinkers of Bordeaux wines mean that only those properties at the very top end can continue to thrive, and amongst them, at

the celebration of last year's Beaujolais -- the word was already of a small but excellent 2025 vintage and a very tight market.

BRUNO BORIE, OWNER OF CHATEAU DUCRU-BEAUCAILLOU: People are drinking certainly less. They are more concerned, but they want to drink better all

the time. So, we are probably in the -- on the right side of the consumption.

[09:40:00]

BELL (voice-over): At the top end, global warming has been driving change for some time. Here at Chateau Siran, the oldest bottles are more than 100

years old. Now the wines can be drunk sooner.

EDOUARD MIAILHE, CHATEAU SIRAN: The fruitiness of the berries is so lively, and the vinification process have improved so much that the Bordeaux wines

were in the past a bit hard, a bit difficult.

BELL: They need a time.

MIAILHE: And they needed to time. Now, you can open a bottle of wine. In the -- I always say in the five years following the bottling.

BELL (voice-over): So good news for those who can continue to adapt to a more challenging market and more challenging weather.

SASKIA DE ROTHSCHILD, CEO OF CHATEAU LAFITE ROTHSCHILD: We see a trend that goes towards more heat and a little bit less water in the spring and in the

summer, which means we're harvesting almost 10 days earlier than we were 20 years ago.

BELL: Wow.

ROTHSCHILD: So, it's really moving the needle.

BELL (voice-over): That needle moved further still this summer, with 53 days of heatwave conditions making the 2026 harvest even smaller than the

last.

BARTON: This cost of production will start to hit even the higher wines because the cost of production is so high. So, this global warming will

impact everyone. We're not just a consumers' problem about volume of wine drank per year, even trends about wine regions. It's really, it's global

warming, literally.

BELL (voice-over): Which likely means more challenging times ahead, even for those Chateau's still able to carry the cost of making great wines

despite the heat. Melissa Bell, CNN, Saint-Julien.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right, thanks to Melissa Bell for very fascinating report there. OK, so there's no place like home, and the NFL's Bills sure got off

to a great start in their new stadium. Josh Allen accounted for five touchdowns as Buffalo romped up to a 41-31 win of the Detroit Lions in

their new $2 billion stadium.

So, fascinating game there. All right, so we're going to a very short break. We'll be back right after this. "World Sport" will be joining you.

And I'll be back at the top of the hour with more. "Connect the World". Stick with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

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