CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: A very warm welcome to our viewers worldwide.
From the CNN Center, I'm Carl Azuz.
Today's show starts with news involving the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
U.S. President Barack Obama is traveling to the Middle Eastern monarchy1 this week.
The two countries governments have been close allies for decades.
The U.S. has benefited from having a reliable source of oil and a stable trade
and military partner in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has invested in U.S. companies,
bought U.S. weapons and received security from the U.S.
But the relationship has had its problems. For example, last year's
controversial nuclear deal between Iran and six other countries led by the U.S.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are enemies. The Saudis were initially2 furious over the deal.
Another strain: the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S.
Fifteen of the 19 terrorists who hijacked3 American planes were of Saudi descent.
And part of a congressional report on those things remains4 classified in the U.S. government.
Analysts5 suspect that the 28 secret pages could reveal foreign support, possibly
Saudi support for the hijackers.
In fact, there's a bipartisan bill in the U.S. Congress right now.
It would allow families who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia
in federal court. If the bill passes, President Obama has threatened to veto it.
Part of the reason, timing6.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The issue of the 28 pages
in the 9/11 Commission come at a very, very sensitive time in U.S.-Saudi
relations at the moment. President Obama about to arrive here. Intense mistrust
between the Saudis and the United States, that's been developing through President
Obama's presidency7.
So, the issue right now, the Saudi saying that they would pull $750 billion of
investments in the United States if these 28 pages were made public.
These 28 pages, we don't know what they contain, if there was smoking gun in there
that says the Saudi government somehow knew or supported or funded the 9/11
hijackers. Does it lead to the fact there perhaps just rich Saudis offered and gave
their support for that attack? It's not clear.
But at the moment, the Saudis distrust the United States because they don't think
the United States is reliable ally in the region. They formed their own Sunni
Muslim coalition8, 34 nations. They have massively ramped9 up their defense10 and
security spending, now the third largest defense and security spender in the world.
So, this is a tough time in that relationship.