Hi there, CindyShoe,
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!
We understand that you're unable to use the News app because of an alert indicating that you're not connected to the internet. We want to do all we can to help.
First, we'd recommend that you check the Apple System Status in your region here: System Status
We'd also like to verify that your Date and Time are correct in Settings > General > Date & Time.
If you haven't already, let's go ahead and restart your iPhone and test again.
If you have any VPN software installed in Settings > General, we'd ask that you remove it temporarily and test your News app again.
We hope this helps.
Cheers!