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Israeli Prime Minister Visits the White House; Talks on Gaza Ceasefire Extension Due to Begin; U.S. Senate Considers RFK Jr. Cabinet Nomination; Swedish Prime Minister on School Shooting; White House Calls Musk "Special Government Employee"; Judge Warns Lively and Baldoni to Not Fight Case in the Media; Talk Show Hosts Take Aim at Trump's Return. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired February 04, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:00]

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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. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi, where the time is 7 in the

evening.

And these are live pictures from the White House where Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet U.S. president Donald Trump in just a

few hours.

This will be Mr. Trump's first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader since he began his second term, a crucial meeting for the region with not

long left for negotiations to end the ceasefire with Hamas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): Well, a rare hopeful moment from inside Gaza. A Palestinian toddler, thought to have only days to live, evacuated from Gaza

to receive urgent treatment in Jordan. We will bring you that story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): And he is the world's richest man on Trump's payroll. We will take a closer look at Elon Musk's role in the U.S.

government and how he is upending one federal agency after another.

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ANDERSON: Well, Donald Trump is preparing for a high level visitor to the White House today. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the first

foreign leader invited for formal talks there since Mr. Trump took office last month.

Now this comes at a crucial time for the Middle East. The fragile, temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is holding but it will expire

just weeks from now unless an extension phase two is agreed upon.

The situation in Gaza is certain to top the agenda at the White House meeting today. But it's not the only regional issue on the table. They may

also discuss growing concerns about Iran's nuclear program and president Trump's push for Israeli-Saudi normalization.

We are expecting to learn what exactly is discussed when the two leaders hold a news conference late in the day. Let's get you some perspective on

what we might expect from this meeting.

Alan Pinkas is a former Israeli diplomat and foreign policy advisor. He joins me now from Tel Aviv.

Let's start with how important this meeting is to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who made it a meeting about himself in his

speech from the tarmac when he was leaving Tel Aviv. Kept underscoring how important this meeting was, first foreign leader since Trump's

inauguration.

And it is, you know, effectively all about Benjamin Netanyahu. Your perspective, if you will, going into this, about how important this is for

Netanyahu.

ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL, NEW YORK: It's important. It's important, Becky, but perhaps for the for the wrong reasons, that Mr.

Netanyahu thinks it's important because Mr. Netanyahu found himself, as he habitually does, making contradictory promises and contradictory pledges to

different people.

He assured Mr. Trump that he's going to abide by the agreement, this 16 day old agreement, even before Trump became president. But he also provided

assurances to his right wing, extreme right wing coalition members that he intends to resume the war.

Now what he's trying to do is set a trap and manipulate Trump. This, at least this is what he thinks he can achieve, by relitigating, by

renegotiating the second phase.

The second phase, for the benefit of our viewers, it begins after day 42. Today we are on day 16, as I said. And on day 42, the initial phase one

hostage release, an exchange should be completed and a partial Israeli withdrawal begins, which will be completed on day 50, eight days later.

Mr. Netanyahu politically cannot allow himself -- or thinks he cannot allow himself to move into phase two. So he's trying to reopen this. He may find

himself facing an American president who is not only, as we like to call him, day in and day out, unpredictable and transactional but also extremely

impatient.

This is not the most important thing on president Trump's agenda, right?

He's got these -- he's got these tariffs in foreign policy. He has Ukraine on his plate; in the Middle East, as you mentioned, there is Saudi and

Iran. And so this may not be as good a meeting as Mr. Netanyahu thinks it may be.

[10:05:00]

ANDERSON: So going into this, Donald Trump has said he wants to see an end to this war, which means an agreement on phase two, which is all about an

end to this war, a permanent ceasefire.

What you're suggesting is that Benjamin Netanyahu, in your words, will try and relitigate that to ensure that that is not necessarily where we are at.

Steve Witkoff is a is a very important character in all of this. He had effectively negotiated this first phase. Ron Dermer, on Benjamin

Netanyahu's side, is another key player here.

It seems, at this point, that the entire Gaza ceasefire discussions and what happens the day after and then what happens in the wider region is all

being negotiated in Washington, as opposed to in this region and around this region.

Is that the sense that you are getting, all roads stop in Washington at this point, correct?

PINKAS: Well, it -- yes, you are correct, Becky, but it's also a -- somewhat of a mirage in the sense that, why are you renegotiating an

agreement that you, Mr. Netanyahu, per your recommendation, passed through the government?

Now, yes, the second phase, as you correctly pointed to, Becky, the second phase includes a permanent cease-fire. But even in the absence of the

implementation of the second phase, the ceasefire from phase one, according to the agreement, carries on.

So there's no reason in the world to resume the war, as he had promised his right wing coalition members, unless the ceasefire collapses. And today,

day 16, the cease-fire has not collapsed.

And so what he's trying to do is to talk Mr. Trump into opening up the second phase negotiations. Now assuming he's not going to succeed in doing

that, which is where Mr. Witkoff, as you pointed to, comes in, he's going to try a second thing and that is derail the entire process through the

negotiating process.

In order to do that, he's going to take the head of the Shabat (ph), the general security service, which is the roughly the equivalent of the FBI or

the MI6 in Britain, he's going to take him out of the negotiating team. This is at least what he's planning.

And a point, as you correctly pointed to again, Mr. Dermer; Mr. Dermer works for Mr. Netanyahu, you know, every moment of the day. He has no

independent opinion. He was -- he's going to be sent there in order to stall, procrastinate and finally derail.

Will that succeed?

I doubt that very much. But it's very, to a large extent, it's up to Mr. Trump, not Mr. Netanyahu.

ANDERSON: Let's talk about what happens next. So we're looking at the immediate future when we talk about what happens in phase two and whether

or not there is a permanent ceasefire.

If there is, we will be talking about what happens next in Gaza. President Trump has proposed cleaning out Gaza by removing Palestinians living there

to Jordan and Egypt. These countries have talked about taking Palestinians on in a cleanout from Gaza, they've talked about that as a red line.

I interviewed the foreign ministers of both countries way back from October the 8th, 9th and 10th, 2023. This is a red line. They say this will not

happen and they are supported by countries from around the Gulf.

What do you make of this plan that Donald Trump keeps bringing up?

And does there have any -- do you have any sense that the U.S. president will be able to convince his regional allies that this is a plan that they

should sign up to, including Jordan and Egypt?

PINKAS: That -- let's go to the bottom line. This is not going to happen. Or it ain't going to happen, as goes the saying. It's not going to happen

because it's impractical, because Jordan and -- cannot afford to take in 750,000 Palestinians, because Egypt will refuse to take in 750,000

Palestinians.

And I would imagine that 95 percent of the Palestinians whose lives we're talking about would refuse to leave the Gaza Strip for the uncertainty of a

tent city in the middle of the Sinai desert. So that's not going to happen.

What Mr. Trump usually does, you know, it's like -- it's like a mayfly. He has, you know, his statements have the lifespan of 18 hours or 12 hours or

24 hours. He's going to move to Greenland or the Panama Canal or Canada or tariffs on China by tomorrow.

So this statement of his makes sense, if he's still a real estate developer in New York City. It doesn't make sense if he's the president of the United

States.

[10:10:02]

Because you can't just evacuate an entire neighborhood in order to put in developers to build a new city. And until then, you provide those people

with medicine and food and potable water. That's not going to happen. These are people with lives and with national aspirations. What he is saying is

something else.

Also, he's adding to this something else. In order for the Saudis, the Qataris and the Emiratis, among other countries, to actually pitch in --

and we're talking tens of billions, if not more, of money, because Gaza cannot be reconstructed. Gaza needs to be rebuilt, bottoms up.

Gaza is devastated. There's not a stone unturned in Gaza. Everything is rubble. No roads, no electricity, no water system, no telecommunications,

no houses, no nothing. And so what he's saying, in order for them to pitch in, there needs to be a postwar plan.

But I go back to the beginning of your remark or question, but, Becky, here's the thing. Israel, until now, refused to engage. Actually, since

December of '23, when then President Biden first presented it, Israel refused to enter into or engage in any talk of a postwar Gaza.

So on the one hand, Netanyahu is saying topple Hamas and eradicate Hamas and substitute Hamas. That's all fine. He's refusing to go into

negotiations on who exactly will replace Hamas, because that entails the Palestinian Authority.

And that could lead to a process that the Saudis are asking for with the Palestinians on the future of the West Bank.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you, sir. We've run out of time. We look forward to hearing from these two leaders, the U.S. president and the prime

minister, because there will be a scheduled news conference after this. So we will find out what was discussed.

And that will add further sort of substance to where we think things will go next. It's good to have you. Expect to hear some talk of Iran and expect

to hear some talk of normalization as well.

Well, we are waiting for news about a possible phone call between president Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping, which Mr. Trump said on Monday he

expected to happen within 24 hours.

The two leaders no doubt have a lot to talk about after China hit back on president Trump's broadbased 10 percent tariffs with targeted tariffs on

American goods and export restrictions on dozens of metal products.

China's tariffs are set to take effect next week. Well, Marc Stewart connecting us this hour from Beijing.

There's some nuance behind these retaliatory tariffs, Marc, just explain.

MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, things could have been a lot worse toward the U.S. in the sense that we were looking at

the list of items and products that was on this list of retaliatory tariffs.

And the first thing I noticed is that soy products were not on the list. Soy products are not just for human consumption here in China. Soy is

what's used to feed pigs, which fuels the pork industry, which is just a major source of revenue, a big part of everyday life in this part of the

world.

Instead, the focus is on energy sources. But if you look at where China gets energy from, yes, the United States. But liquid natural gas, for

example, other fuel sources, they come from Russia and from the Middle East on a much larger scale.

So the impact on the U.S. isn't as significant as other products perhaps. Also on that list, we have, we have American pickup trucks.

Why pickup trucks?

They are a product that -- they're an item that Chinese consumers just don't really spend. It's not an item of choice yet that's on the list.

There are some things that have a little bit more substance.

For example, two American companies; one in particular, PVH, which is the brand, the parent, you would say, of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, they

are being noted by the Chinese government for essentially not playing by the rules.

And that allows China to have influence on trade, such as imports and exports of their products, on investment. So big picture, Becky, this is

more about symbolism at this point than substance.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you, Marc. Thank you.

I want to get our viewers over to Washington. Any moment now a U.S. Senate committee will vote to move forward with Robert F.. Kennedy's nomination to

be Health and Human Services Secretary.

[10:15:00]

If the nomination passes, it will move on to the full Senate floor for confirmation. Let's just listen in to what is going on at present.

SEN. RON WYDEN (D-OR): I'll wrap up on this point by saying, I hope our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will not sit by while Musk and

Trump make a mockery of the power Republicans hold in their congressional majority.

(KENNEDY HEARING)

[10:20:35]

SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D-WA): When I think of this issue, I think of my Pacific Northwest leadership, how Paul Allen, on his own, invested $100

million to fight Ebola. I think of Bill Gates and The Gates Foundation, not just trying to eradicate polio and work on these issues but to think of a

regime --

ANDERSON: Making Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the Secretary for the HHS would be making a grave threat to the health of the American people, so says the

ranking member on the Senate committee here.

This U.S. Senate committee, considering the fate of RFK Jr. and his cabinet nomination.

"It is not with my vote," said the ranking member. And his decision to vote no is expected to be echoed by all Democrats. It is what key Republicans

choose to do, which could make or break this nomination. And more on that as we move through the day. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. There is

more news just ahead. Stay with us.

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ANDERSON: Well, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson for you; 7:23 here in Abu Dhabi. This show broadcast from our Middle East

programming hub. And we are following breaking news out of central Sweden, where police say at least five people have been shot at a school.

They say the operation at the school is ongoing and are warning the public to stay indoors. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz following the latest for us and she

joins us now.

What more have we learned at this point, Salma?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Becky, just a short time ago, there was a police presser to update journalists and others on what's

happening. Now we understand the situation is still ongoing, in the sense that the police are still trying to stabilize the situation at this school

in central Sweden.

It is still cordoned off. People are still being asked to stay away. I do also have a statement from the prime minister and I do want to pull that

up, because it gives a sense of this tragedy.

"It is with sadness that I have received information about the terrible act of violence in Orebro. My thoughts are with those who have been affected

and their relatives.

[10:25:03]

"It is a very painful day for all of Sweden. My thoughts are also with those whose normal school day was replaced with terror. Being confined to a

classroom with fear for your own life is a nightmare that no one should have to experience."

Now a little bit of information about this school, Becky, that we did learn from this press conference, is that about 12:30 local time is when this

incident occurred. Police rushing again to the school, which has multiple buildings, multiple institutions, including an adult school, which provides

services to immigrant communities.

It has schools that also serve children in the area. So a wide variety, various ages at that school. Again, we understand five people have been

shot. Several of them were rushed to hospital but we do not understand the extent of their injuries at this time. And we have yet to confirm if anyone

has tragically lost their life in this incident.

So we're still waiting for more information on that. Now regarding the perpetrator, we understand the perpetrator is one of those who was wounded

as well.

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: I'm going to just jump in here. It's good to get the update and we will get more from you as we learn more.

I do want to get us back to Washington because we are watching Capitol Hill, where a U.S. Senate committee is getting ready to vote on whether to

move forward with Robert F. Kennedy's nomination to be Health and Human Services secretary. The vote is underway. Let's just listen in.

[10:26:37]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Warner.

Mr. Warner?

No.

Mr. Whitehouse?

Mr. Whitehouse, no.

Ms. Hassan?

Ms. Hassan, no.

(KENNEDY HEARING)

[10:28:00]

ANDERSON: So RFK Jr.'s nomination passes in the Senate committee, passing on party lines. It now goes to the full Senate for a vote. Keeping you bang

up to date on what is going on there on Capitol Hill. That is a controversial nomination for secretary of what is known in the U.S. as HHS,

Health and Human Services.

Still to come and it's clear Elon Musk is disrupting the United States government at a dizzying speed. What's unclear is how much authority he's

been taking on these actions. More on that after this.

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[10:30:00]

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ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky, Anderson.

Well, Donald Trump also signed an executive order on Monday, saying he would direct officials to set up a U.S. sovereign wealth fund. Now such

funds are used to direct a country's budgets into financial assets like stocks, bonds and real estate.

Well, Mr. Trump also said the fund could be used to acquire TikTok, the popular Chinese owned video platform that is under pressure to find a new

owner for its U.S. assets by April or be banned for its 170 million American users.

President Trump's warp speed approach to shaking up the previous order is matched by only one man and he's not even a full time government employee.

In the past few days alone, Elon Musk and his allies have gained access to the Treasury's payment systems, it is reported.

Threatened to shut down the U.S. agency that administers foreign aid and pushed aside career civil servants, in some cases even locking them out of

their own computers. Perhaps this shouldn't come as a surprise. We absolutely saw Musk's influence over the president begin to take shape on

the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: And I'm for electric cars. I have to be, you know, because Elon endorsed me very strongly.

Elon.

So I have no choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, on Monday, Mr. Trump sought to clarify Musk's role in the government and to somewhat tamp down fears about his influence. Have a

listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's got access only to letting people go that he thinks are no good if we agree with him and it's only if we agree with him. He's a very

talented guy from the standpoint of management and costs. Elon can't do and won't do anything without our approval and we'll give him the approval

where appropriate. Where not appropriate, we won't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: All right. Well, as criticism of Musk grows, many Republicans standing behind what is this unorthodox approach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM SHEEHY (R-MT): The fact that we have the most successful businessman, arguably one of the smartest men in the world, doing it for

free, I think it's a pretty good deal for the American people.

Elon Musk is doing, yet again, exactly what president Trump ran on. There are no surprises here. I think the pearl clutching over every single day

when a new announcement comes out, people, this is exactly what president Trump ran on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: OK. The Democrats, though, say his reach with DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, has gone way too far. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MAJORITY LEADER: To give DOGE a chokehold on Treasury payments is outlandishly dangerous. It's like putting a tiger into

a petting zoo and then hoping for the best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Katelyn Polantz following developments in Washington and boy, is it busy there, Katelyn. The White House now says that Musk is a

"special government employee." So let's start there.

What does that actually mean?

And exactly what official capacity is Musk acting in at present?

Is it clear at this point?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It's not entirely clear exactly what he's doing because he's given so much free rein

so far by the White House, by Donald Trump.

Musk is theoretically in charge of a group called the Department of Government Efficiency, taking over an existing agency for digital services

that has pretty far reach over the federal government. But he also appears to have a lot of influence over the Office of Personnel Management.

That's the agency in Washington that manages the entire federal civil service. So 2 million or so employees, career employees that work for the

federal government across the nation and abroad. What Musk is doing as a special government employee, Becky, though, is it's sort of like a

consultant, an uber volunteer.

[10:35:02]

He does work for the federal government. He's not being paid. He does have a top secret security clearance, according to a source that was speaking to

Kaitlan Collins yesterday over from the White House.

And on top of that, he has some boundaries in place, theoretically, in that a special government employee, you're supposed to be a short term person

working with the federal government.

But you're also supposed to be walled off and not taking part in anything that could be a conflict of interest for your own personal finances and

personal interests. Obviously, Musk is a very successful businessman. His companies have massive amounts of federal government contracts from many

different agencies.

And so it's just not totally clear where the boundaries are for him right now with his influence.

And there are a lot of people that are working with him, allied with him already in the federal government at various agencies, including the

Treasury Department, as you were talking about that payment system that they have access to now.

ANDERSON: Yes, look, there will be hundreds of thousands of people who are absolutely petrified about what happens next. He has gone in and said he is

going to rip this place apart.

He's going to, you know, work on efficiencies. He's going to pull apart the sort of bureaucracy at this point. He is looking for efficiencies. There

are going to be people who don't like what he's doing.

But does Congress have any power to restrain him?

After all, the president of the United States has said we're keeping an eye on him effectively. You know, if he crosses the line, we'll rein him in.

Is that all there is as far as restraint on him at this point?

POLANTZ: There are statutes in place. There are theoretical criminal statutes, civil statutes that govern, especially this conflicts of interest

structure for someone who is in a position like this.

Whether that would ever be enforced by a Trump administration is a totally different question. And then on top of that, Becky, there's Congress. There

are people in Congress, especially senators from the Democratic Party. So they're not in the majority but they are there.

You saw Elizabeth Warren up there. She is the chair of a powerful committee. People from the Banking Committee, the Finance Committee in the

Senate, they can ask questions and they can ask for investigations. But how far that might actually go still remains to be seen.

What we've already seen is quite a reaction to Musk and people affiliated with his DOGE group at the Treasury Department, gaining access to

essentially the central accounting department, the payment processor for the whole federal government, putting cutting checks for trillions of

dollars in a year.

There's a lot of questions about are there sensitive information that's being shared that should not be right now?

What all we can do is continue to ask the questions and to see what answers come and see how far Congress can get, because it doesn't appear to be a

situation where the Trump administration would want to look into this or regulate him at all.

ANDERSON: Look, let's remind our viewers, he's the world's richest man. He's got billions of dollars worth of government contracts as you rightly

pointed out. And there will be questions asked about whether the work that he is doing for the government violates conflict of interest statutes.

What has the Treasury Secretary said?

Scott Bessent, what has he said about all of this, his access to Treasury files, to sensitive data?

What's his position on this?

POLANTZ: Well, so far, from our reporting, we were seeing that Bessent in some way must have been supportive of this, of giving people at Treasury

affiliated with Elon Musk access to this payment system.

It's within a part of the Treasury Department called the Bureau of Fiscal Service. Nobody ever was really paying attention to that on the political

side. It was something that was very sensitive, secretive and that was guarded and maintained by longtime career officials.

What we know about Scott Bessent, the new secretary at the Treasury Department, is that there was a clash with the top civil servant who had

been the acting Treasury Secretary during the transition or after the transition.

There was a clash, where that person, David Lebryk, had not wanted to give Musk's team access to this payment system. And Lebryk did leave after this

clash with the Treasury Department top brass.

So how far -- what the implications of this, we just don't know. Still, Becky, there's still a lot of questions but it's an important thing to keep

watching.

ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. And we know that you will be on it and you will be back as and when you get more reporting on it.

[10:40:00]

Thank you very much indeed.

Well, the front-runner to be Germany's next leader has denied that he is cooperating with the far right in Germany, the AfD party. Last week,

Friedrich Merz's party sponsored an immigration bill with the AfD earning criticism from members of his own party, including former chancellor Angela

Merkel.

Now Germany's biggest political parties have an unwritten agreement not to seek the support of the far right. Well, with Germany set to hold elections

later this month, polls suggest that Merz is likely to become the next chancellor in Germany. Our Fred Pleitgen spoke to him about his priorities.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRIEDRICH MERZ, LEADER, CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION: Immediately after the formation of a new government, we have to take some decisions on migration.

My personal decision would be to control our borders and to return those who are coming without documents.

And the second thing is we have to do something on the economy. The economy in Germany is running pretty bad. And so we have to take decisions.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If you become chancellor, you will be dealing with U.S. president Donald Trump, who's

already done a lot of wide ranging decisions but also threatened tariffs against European nations; of course, Mexico and Canada as well.

How would you deal with Donald Trump as a president?

MERZ: I remind you what happened when he was in his first term. He put in place tariffs against steel and aluminum in America. And the European

answer was tariffs against motorcycles, against jeans and against American whiskey.

And the former president of the E.U. Commission went to Washington, had a deal with him. And after six weeks they gave up all the tariffs. So the

answer has to come from the European level.

PLEITGEN: Defense is obviously another big key issue for Donald Trump and the 5 percent goal that he's put forward.

Now how would you deal with that?

I was also very interested in your speech. You also spoke very strongly on the subject of Ukraine as well --

(CROSSTALK)

MERZ: I'm very strong in this position. We are on the Ukrainian side because the attack is against all of us. We have to achieve the NATO goals.

This is 2 percent of our GDP minimum. This is the lowest level. We are behind that. We have to do that.

But my second answer is don't let us talk about money only. Standardization, simplification and economies of scale have to be put in

place as well. So we have to get more for the money. And the best would be cooperating with the U.S. and with the U.S. government.

We do not yet know what they are really planning to do. I would like to see what they are planning to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. There's more news just ahead. Stay with us.

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[10:45:00]

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ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky, Anderson. The judge overseeing a legal battle between actress Blake Lively

and director Justin Baldoni has threatened to move up their trial date if the war of words they are conducting via the media doesn't stop now.

Lively is suing the director and costar of the movie, "It Ends with Us," saying that he sexually harassed her during the film's production and is

accusing him of mounting a campaign of retaliation.

While Baldoni denies the allegations, in a countersuit, he accuses Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, of extortion, defamation and invasion of

privacy.

Well, what do you know?

Joining me now to discuss what is a very complex legal saga is entertainment journalist, Segun Oduolowu. He is the host of the "Boston

Globe Today" and joins us now.

And what a saga this is. My own team of producers are divided between Team Baldoni and Team Lively.

So what are you hearing from the court of public opinion on this?

Let's start there.

SEGUN ODUOLOWU, HOST, "BOSTON GLOBE TODAY": Well, you and your producers are squarely in the streets with the court of public opinion.

And there's Team Lively, there's Team Baldoni and what is being missed is serious allegations like this is sexual harassment that's being alleged.

And there are countersuits.

So while the public is picking, you know, Blake Lively or Justin Baldoni, we don't want to lose focus that this is very serious and the judge is

treating it as such. Right? This should not be played out in the media, though it will be, because it's two Hollywood celebrities, people of name

that we are familiar with.

There's a movie involved, there's superstar names like Taylor Swift and Ryan Reynolds attached to it. It's got all of the juicy subplots that make

for a Hollywood movie and it's happening in real time.

ANDERSON: So what can we what can we expect to hear from those key stakeholders in all of this?

Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Swift, for example?

ODUOLOWU: Well, what we should expect is silence, right?

Taylor and Ryan aren't -- you know, Ryan talks through his art, Taylor talks through her art. They don't really give a ton of interviews.

But what we should expect is, as you said earlier, how the court of public opinion is going to campaign for either side.

What are we going to see on social media?

These gag orders that the judge has issued that both sides say they are going to adhere to, right, you saw the lawyers of Blake Lively kind of

applauding the judge's decision because of the backlash and what they feel was antagonistic behavior by Baldoni's team.

Keeping this as quiet as possible, I think that's too late. You know, the Pandora's box is already open. But the court of public opinion has squarely

chosen sides. And now let's see how it plays out in the court.

I think a speedy trial is in favor of Blake Lively, because, again, we've never really seen in the #metoo movement a case of this magnitude where

it's a he said/she said. And both sides might have some credibility.

ANDERSON: Yes, it is remarkable. And like you say, I mean, it's an understatement to say the genie's out of the bottle on this one.

I mean, you know, why is it that the actors didn't, didn't reach or even try for a settlement ahead of this point as so many celebrity cases do?

ODUOLOWU: Egos have been bruised. if you look at it from the side of Justin Baldoni, his movie was hijacked in no short term. The cut that the

studio went with was Blake Lively's cut. She brought in her husband to help rewrite scenes.

She had, you know, her celebrity friends submit a song for it. You've got tapes of Baldoni apologizing to Blake Lively.

On the flip side, you have Baldoni feeling like the aggrieved party that this mega celebrity, with her mega celebrity friends and, you know, royal

Hollywood couple have kind of cast him in an unfavorable light.

When "The New York Times" got involved and printed out so much of the transcripts of texts and allegations, it felt like a scorched earth moment

that neither side is willing to budge. Both sides are fighting, in essence, for their careers, because at the end of this trial, however it goes, one

side's career could be in jeopardy.

And Blake Lively is the bigger star. So on Baldoni's case, he's fighting for whatever credibility of a career he might have left.

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

I hear the movie's not bad.

[10:50:00]

Not great but not bad. But nobody's talking about the movie at this point because there's, you know, there is everything else about this, which is

just so, you know, for so many people, just so riveting, I have to say.

Anyway, it's good to have you, sir. Always a pleasure. Thank you very much.

ODUOLOWU: Yes. I was going to say that's one of the most intriguing points, the movie did well through all of this. The movie did well.

ANDERSON: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

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

All right. Good to have you, mate.

Still ahead, the NFL has arrived in New Orleans ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl. The fun, glitz and glam of an opening night when players meet the

media. We will take you straight there right after this.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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ANDERSON: Well, the last two teams standing have arrived in New Orleans for what promises to be a super duper Super Bowl between the Chiefs and the

Eagles. The weekend frenzied football fans already in New Orleans as the NFL hosted its opening night. That is when the media meet players and

coaches.

I can tell you there is a lot going on. It's not just the game, folks, these days. There's so much more to this. Our Coy Wire is already in town

with more on what is a high octane atmosphere in what is the Big Easy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COY WIRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to opening night for Super Bowl 59 here in New Orleans, a rematch from the Super Bowl two seasons ago between

the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. Can the Eagles be the team to finally take down the two-time defending champs?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JALEN HURTS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES QUARTERBACK: You know, you sacrifice a lot, you put a lot in work. Work really hard to have this opportunity and

so to do it and be back, two times out of four years starting is very special. It's something -- the goal is to finish.

SAQUON BARKLEY, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES RUNNING BACK: You just got to take it all in. This is part of it. You got to enjoy it. So I'm happy to be here,

happy to have conversations with you guys. At the same time, it's a business and you stay locked in. But today, you enjoy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Or will Kansas City become the first team ever to win three Super Bowl titles in a row?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS JONES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS DEFENSIVE TACKLE: Kansas City, we're back in the Super Bowl, baby.

TRAVIS KELCE, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS TIGHT END: The biggest lesson I've learned is don't let the hype get you. don't let the magnitude of the game

around you get you. At the end of the day, this is a -- you know, you got here for a reason, that your team got here for a reason. So lean on them

and don't let the moment be too big for you.

PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: It kind of brings you closer together, when people are rooting against you, you just kind of --

if become a tighter brotherhood in the locker room and you know that we're doing it the right way.

And we can bring it -- bring ourselves together, have T's Kingdom with us and go out there and try to win the game against everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Super Bowl week has officially kicked off. We'll be here all week long, bringing you the best sights and sound -- Coy Wire, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: I love it, they've made an event out of a of a press conference effectively. That is how big the Super Bowl is.

Right. Well, he was a familiar target of their late night barbs during his first term in office. Now talk show hosts in the U.S. are trying to add

some levity to what has been a whirlwind of a first couple of weeks for Donald Trump and his return to the White House.

Have a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SETH MEYERS, NBC HOST: President Trump posted on Truth Social over the weekend.

[10:55:03]

Quote, "Will there be some pain?

Yes, maybe and maybe not."

Well, I'm reassured.

(LAUGHTER)

MEYERS: Are you are you president or a strip mall dentist?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, COMEDY CENTRAL HOST: What is happening?

Do we have any friends?

Let that be a lesson to the rest of the world. We are a terrible friend.

Denmark, Panama and Canada are America. We used to fight the Nazis. Now we're scouring the globe for easy marks.

What are we, like the Jake Paul of nations?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, perhaps the president's biggest late night critic, Jimmy Kimmel, quipped last week.

"Trump has now been president for eight days. I've aged 9.5 years," he said.

That is it for CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson for you here in Abu Dhabi. Stay with CNN. "NEWSROOM" is up next.

END