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Connect the World

Zelenskyy: Trump Lives in a "Disinformation Space"; Trump Falsely Claims Ukraine Started Conflict with Russia; France to Host Additional Talks on Ukraine Conflict; Trump Announces Plans for Tariffs on Cars, Chips and Drugs; Real Madrid, Man City Meet with Round of 16 Berth at Stake. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired February 19, 2025 - 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)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, Donald Trump expected to touch down in Miami, in Florida, any moment, he is heading there to give a

speech to an event hosted by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. A further sign of the president's connection to the Kingdom.

Days after the first high level talks between U.S. and Russian delegations were held in Riyadh. It is 09:00 a.m. in Miami, it is 06:00 p.m. here in

Abu Dhabi. This is "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson. Even as we look ahead to the president's next public appearance later today.

The world is reacting to what he said less than 24 hours ago, a sharp pivot in American foreign policy that critics say is simply parroting Russian

talking points. Well, Ukraine's President Zelenskyy, now accusing Mr. Trump of living in a disinformation bubble or space.

Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Minister saying Vladimir Putin and Trump have discussed the root causes, as he describes them, of the war. Well, the

stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now, and if futures are any indication, the market likely to open mix to lower as traders

continue to weigh both geopolitical and trade uncertainties.

We start with those geopolitical concerns, Ukraine's Leader now accusing President Donald Trump of parroting Russian disinformation. Volodymyr

Zelenskyy also says America has helped Vladimir Putin come out of years of isolation. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: I would like Trump's team to have more truth. All of this definitely does not have a positive impact on

Ukraine. They are letting Putin out of isolation, and I think Putin and Russians are really happy because they are involved in discussions. And

yesterday, there were signals that they are victims. That is something new.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: All right. Well, those comments come a day after Donald Trump falsely blamed Ukraine for starting the conflict with Russia, echoing

Moscow's talking points.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it's going very well, but today I heard,

oh, we weren't invited. Well, you've been there for three years. You should have ended it three years. You should have never started it. You could have

made a deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: I'm joined by CNN Politics Senior Reporter Stephen Collinson and our Global Affairs Analyst Kim Dozier. And there he was, of course,

referring to Ukraine. First, how do you both read. Let's start with Donald Trump's comments there, blaming Ukraine for the conflict in Ukraine.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Becky, I think that what's happened is the United States has switched from taking the position

of the invaded country to supporting the invader. I don't think there's any other way to read these comments by President Trump.

He seems to be trying to push Zelenskyy off the scene by saying that he should hold elections. And I think this will go down very poorly in Europe,

which is trying, I think, at least, to come up with an alternative plan, because it looks like the United States has firmly taken the side of Russia

in these negotiations.

The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is coming to the U.S. next week to try to perhaps keep Donald Trump in the tent, if you like. It seems that

his task is going to be extraordinarily difficult after these remarks by the president.

ANDERSON: Yeah, the Europeans certainly back up against the wall at present. Kim, how do you read what Zelenskyy said in response to Donald

Trump? We played part of it. He literally directly responded to a bunch of things that Donald Trump said which were blatantly untrue.

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yeah, Zelenskyy says that Trump is spouting Russian disinformation. Spouting is my word, Russian

disinformation, he specifically mentions and that is similar to what I've been hearing from European and Ukraine Ukrainian officials this morning.

Who are -- they are gob-smacked. They are shocked, and as one politician told me, she's pissed because they really thought that the Trump

Administration would come in and level the playing field.

[09:05:00]

They had hoped it would be like other Republican administrations that were seen as sort of strong men administrations and able to make deals that the

Democrats weren't. But instead, while they've liked what they've heard from retire General Keith Kellogg, the Trump envoy to Ukraine.

What they've heard out of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, and most importantly, again and again, from Donald Trump, has them worried.

One of the things that they really take issue with is that Trump has said Zelenskyy has a 4 percent approval rating, and that is specifically out of

Russian disinformation channels, Ukrainians say.

ANDERSON: Right.

DOZIER: Whereas the most recent polls I could find have them somewhere around 50 to 52 percent and even this morning, a poll is --

ANDERSON: Which is around about what Donald Trump is polling out, of course. So yes, Kim, can I just stop you for a moment? I do forgive me.

President Putin is speaking in Moscow. We've got translation. We just want to listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA: They didn't have anti-aircraft weaponry at that site. So, it's not really a Russian facility. It's an

international energy facility. It's American companies, Chevron, I think, and European ones as well -- as well as Russian in the Caspian. And the

money we get from it is five --

So, it's not just that we are providing services to our Kazak friends, but also to those partners working in Kazakhstan. And the oil that they get.

Essentially is ours. It's a shared between the American and the other European companies. Of course, I wouldn't say it's a critical kind of

volume, but it is a volume on the -- it is a good amount on the international market.

And this will have an effect on the international energy market, certainly first and foremost, because, unfortunately, it's very difficult to restore

it, but quickly, because mainly there's western equipment involved, and this western equipment was damaged.

So just like to say that the western countries extended the sanctions on Russia to such an extent that we can't get spare parts for oil and gas

extraction, which means that the Ukrainian forces actually struck a station which the west afterwards say they can't restore, because, as I said, the

main equipment belongs to the German company Siemens.

If it could be restored tomorrow or the day after, why would they say it will take months? Obviously, if you look at this sort of, formally, you can

see a kind of uncoordinated action. Maybe it was just an accident because the Europeans going their way and not paying attention to it.

But if you look at it otherwise, it's a strike against us. Why was that necessary? Because it's absurd, because it will affect the prices on the

international market. The administration, the U.S. administration, always said that it's trying to stabilize oil prices, but this is really

counterproductive.

[09:10:00]

Yesterday, the consortium had a meeting on this issue, and they're going to decide what to do now. It's not so much a problem for us as for the

investor countries. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: So, President Putin there just addressing reporter's questions on what has been this attack on the Caspian pipeline consortium. He has said

that it is impossible to restore quickly because western equipment was damaged. Now this -- let me just explain. The pipeline moves Kazakhstan oil

to world markets and has been reduced by about 30 to 40 percent after a drone attack at a pumping station in Southern Russia.

A drone attack that the Russians, of course, blame on Ukraine. That's the very latest from St. Petersburg, where we wanted you to just hear from

President Putin. Of course, he's clearly front and center in the news cycle at present, given the talks yesterday in Riyadh between the U.S. and

Russia.

And comments in the last 24 hours from the U.S. President that the Ukraine war is the -- Ukrainians are to blame for the Ukraine war. Look, I've got

Kim and Stephen still with me. Guys, thank you for standing by. And Kim, apologies for jumping in on you. We didn't want to miss anything strategic

or important from Putin there.

I'm not sure that we had anything that we further want to discuss, apart from that, which I've just suggested. Look, let's hear from the Russians,

both of you. Here's how Foreign Minister Lavrov is describing what's happened between his boss, Vladimir Putin, and the U.S. President Donald

Trump. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: I'd just like to point out that the strivings of the collective west remain in a privileged position and in

a dominant world. Although they have started to dialog with us. They are being very selective in their interpretation of the international legal

documents. And of course, Ukraine is a case in point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: You talked about Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin having sort of discussed the root causes of the conflict. I just wonder, to your mind will

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have agreed on the root causes at this point? Does it appear to you from what we are hearing from Donald Trump,

that indeed they have?

DOZIER: Well, Trump values a person-to-person relationship, and he's obviously had a long conversation with Putin and absorbed much of what he

heard, because he has this habit of respecting those who don't need something from him, as opposed to countries like Europe, et cetera, who are

allies, who do need something from the United States.

So, he's lapped that up, apparently from what we're hearing from him. But I'm thinking of his national security team. Secretary of State, Rubio has

always been tough on Russia, and the National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz was the Deputy National Security Advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney

under Bush when Russia betrayed Bush and Cheney by the surprise invasion of Georgia.

So, Waltz has some scar tissue. Rubio is very aware of that history too. So, they're going to have to try to convince Trump that he doesn't want to

absorb everything. He can't take everything that Putin tells him at face value. So, I'm sure there's this careful program to try to walk that back.

And I think that also the main negotiator that has been brought into this, the real estate magnet that Trump has brought on, who's a friend. He knows

if a deal is good or bad. So, I'm hoping that he will come from a different direction and say to Trump, look, you're getting manipulated. You don't

want to get rolled. We don't want to let Russia or anyone have the best of us.

ANDERSON: It's interesting, Boris Johnson today suggesting in an X post that Donald Trump statements are not intended to be historically accurate,

but to shock Europeans into action.

[09:15:00]

And I want to talk to you very specifically, Stephen, about the European response to all of this. Before I do that though, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is

in Kyiv. I want to get to him specifically now. Donald Trump's man, Keith Kellogg says he is in Kyiv to listen. We quote him there. What's the

message Zelenskyy is likely to deliver via Keith Kellogg today, Nick?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, the -- we asked Zelenskyy directly if, indeed, as the security

guarantees the Kellogg mentioned to me this morning as he got off the train, we're going to be part of their conversation.

Indeed, while Kellogg is here to listen as well, what for Zelenskyy would work as a security guarantee if indeed, being a member of NATO isn't going

to happen, if U.S. troops here isn't going to happen. And Zelenskyy gave to me an impassioned statement about the need for urgent air defenses to be

delivered to Ukraine.

And nightly here, ballistic missiles, drones in their dozens, attacking Ukraine cities. We heard them intensely over Kyiv just last night. They are

running out, it seems, day by day, of specific interceptors for these higher end Russian ballistic missiles. He sorts of said, look, if it's

possible for the Middle East to have these items, then why can't we have them?

We're at war indeed right now. And so, a passion plea there certainly. But I think there is a lot of questions being asked at this point about the

role Kellogg plays in these negotiations. Lot certainly has been done prior to his first visit here. The U.S.-Russia summit in Riyad, leaving, I think

potentially some in Ukraine, anxious that we're seeing Moscow, Washington rapprochement here on the table first up.

The peace in Ukraine being potentially part of that, but not necessarily the full deal. And certainly, the comments from last night in the Oval

Office have left many deeply worried that we are simply hearing Trump repeating things he's heard from the Kremlin head. But also too, Zelenskyy

speaking about how this summit in Riyadh had broken the isolation for Putin we've seen recently.

And I think that marks a change today we're hearing, I think, a much more strident Zelenskyy in defensive Ukraine's position, his own polling

ratings, and clear that he wanted to contradict what he heard from the White House head just last night?

ANDERSON: Yeah, of course, Donald Trump is suggesting Zelenskyy ratings are some 4 percent which, as I understand it, is one of the Kremlin's talking

points, as is the idea that any deal for Ukraine would mean Zelenskyy signing up to new elections at this point. Let's just have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're hearing that Russia wants to force Ukraine to hold new elections in order to sign any kind of a peace deal. Is that

something that the U.S. would ever support?

TRUMP: Well, we have a situation where we haven't had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine. The people

of Ukraine have to say like, you know, it's been a long time since we've had an election. That's not a Russia thing. That's something coming from

me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: This is, of course, the country undergoing a violent invasion, and perhaps the reason why there hasn't been any elections of late. But how

realistic would elections be at this moment in Ukraine, Nick?

WALSH: Yeah, I mean, look, it's an exceptionally dangerous thing potentially to introduce here. We've been speaking to people over the past

couple of days about the sheer act of just putting an election together. Remember, the last 20 years, Russia has interfered enormously in pretty

much every electoral process it can, causing protests back in 2003 and 4 to try and change an event that had clearly been doctored in Russia's

interests.

And so, the idea here of trying to do a lot of electoral reform that be required to make a transparent, valid international process, while at the

same time being at war, dealing with the likelihood of Russian malfeasance and disinformation here as well. And then also dealing with the issue of,

what do you do with the voters of Ukrainian who now live abroad?

What you do with the million plus men and women in uniform fighting on the front line? How do you get all these people to polling stations, even if

you have a ceasefire? The point made by Zelenskyy's team, and this is essentially about trying to disrupt and sap the combat readiness of the

Ukrainian military, even if a ceasefire is called to allow Russia potentially a gap.

And then look, let's face it, most likely introduce some kind of electoral process, the result of which is going to leave some people unhappy. Be the

international monitors, be the opposition politicians here, be the people who don't consider the outcome to necessarily have been in their favor.

[09:20:00]

Will it increase the sense of question marks over whoever wins that election? And I think ultimately this is, as people have said, a bid by

Russia to introduce doubt into the legitimacy of Zelenskyy. It's martial law. He doesn't need to introduce elections at this point. It has come

round in the past, over previous years and been pushed back because his poll rating has been quite solid.

I think that was the point he was trying to make again today. But the notion of elections here, I think you know, that would be pretty much

catastrophic. I think for government integrity. Most people recognize that, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah, ironically, he was suggesting that his poll ratings are just above 50 percent, just about the same as they are, of course, for

Donald Trump at present in the latest polls. Thank you, Nick. Stephen, let me bring you back in, in your analysis. You make the point, quote, the U.S.

Presidents comments will fuel fresh fears in Europe, which was also excluded from those U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, that Trump will try

to impose a peace deal in Ukraine that favors his friend in the Kremlin.

His remarks also appeared to directly contradict assurances by his own Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. I quoted Boris Johnson just earlier on as

we started this, suggesting that Trump statements are not intended to be entirely accurate, but to shock Europeans into action, Boris Johnson's

position, the Former Prime Minister of the U.K., not mine.

And just how impactful, though, do you see what appears to be this mixed messaging from the Trump Administration itself to the world, very

specifically to the Europeans at this point?

COLLINSON: Well, to Boris Johnson's point, I don't really share the view that Trump is playing some kind of very intricate diplomatic game. I think

what he says and what comes out of his mouth is exactly what he thinks. His position on Ukraine is not an isolated one in the United States.

The MAGA movement wants to watch its hands completely out of Ukraine. So, he's saying something that's very popular amongst his followers. I do find

it kind of surprising that the Europeans were so shocked about Trump's positioning over the last few weeks. If you listen to what he said on the

campaign, I think it was pretty obvious about how he was going to proceed.

There was a sense among diplomats in Washington before the election, they were saying, well, we know what a second Trump would look like. We will be

able to handle it. It seems to me that Trump is a much more hardline president in his second term in terms of foreign policy than his first.

He intends to push forward a more authentic sense of his own goals, I think, than he did in the first term, when he was surrounded by more

establishment foreign policy advisors. So, I think we should listen to what Trump says, and the Europeans are going to have a problem.

They're saying that some of them are willing to put forces into Ukraine in the event of a peace deal that would require substantial U.S. intelligence

and air assets. And the question that Trump hasn't answered is whether he'd be prepared to do that.

ANDERSON: You make some very good points, as ever, Stephen, and there are many who echo your thoughts about why it is that the Europeans are so sort

of wrong footed at this point. Obviously, over the last weekend, a very sort of finger pointing speech made by the vice president at the Munich

Security Council, which -- unnerved many.

But the idea Kim, that people are surprised to hear this in a very forceful position from the U.S. President, perhaps, is slightly misguided,

ultimately. We've seen European Leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron calling for more security independence. Think of his image due he's

been talking about a European security sort of pact for a long time now.

Ursula von der Leyen posting in recent days, Europe security is at a turning point. We need an urgency mindset. I just wonder how much substance

there is to that, or there was to that, perhaps more so now. Do you now see a sense of urgency from the Europeans?

DOZIER: Well, this, this ice bath of rhetoric that Europe just got in the face from a multitude of Trump Administration officials has already

produced one concrete result in that after months of talking about it behind closed doors, I talked to one European leader who said, we're all

talking about the possibility of putting troops in Ukraine for peace keeping, for training, maybe even before that. But no one will say it out

loud. Well, the British Prime Minister, as Steve mentioned, just said it.

[09:25:00]

So, this could be the thing that after years of discussions like you hear from weapons manufacturers in Europe who say, you know, the European

Leaders keep talking about ramping up, but then they don't send us any orders. Well, maybe that's all about to change.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

DOZIER: I know that European weapons stocks have been spiking over the past days. And European officials I hear from are saying, OK, well now we've got

the worst possible outcome that we expected. We haven't had a deal made, but it looks like it's going in a wrong direction, and we finally have to

get off the X and do something.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you all. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. Regular guests on this show. And I'm sure we will be speaking very

soon. It's busy times. Palestinians living in a West Bank refugee camp have been forced to flee. The IDF demolished more than a dozen residential

buildings at Tulkarem refugee camp on Tuesday.

That's according to Palestinian authorities, who say it is the latest move in an Israeli military operation that has displaced tens of thousands of

Palestinians. Now it comes as Hamas says it will release the dead bodies of four Israeli soldiers from Gaza on Thursday and then hand over six living

hostages on Saturday.

The hostages missing families' forum as said is known as name the six people they are expecting to be freed, seen here on your screen. CNN's Nic

Robertson joining me live now from Jerusalem. Is it clear why Hamas appears to be fast tracking their commitments to phase one of what is this current

temporary ceasefire deal in planning to actually free more living hostages this Saturday than previously expected, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, it's not entirely clear why that's happening. What is clear is the prime minister's office

here in Israel is pushing back and saying that they are not delaying getting into phase two, despite officials yesterday telling us at CNN that

actually the government doesn't want to get into those phase two negotiations -- yet it would rather stay with the phase one negotiations

and get more hostages released.

And the prime minister's office points out that it was just last week that Hamas was trying to sort of derail the hostage release process by saying it

wasn't going to release any. So, it does appear that there were 33 hostages due to be released as part of phase one, which was due to end on the second

of March.

Hamas is now stating they're in a position to release them all of those 33, the remaining 14, 8 we understand dead, 6, alive. Well before that

deadline, they do look like they are trying to push Israel to get to phase two, which means real discussion about a real and final end to the war.

ANDERSON: Permanent ceasefire. Israel launched a mass military operation in the West Bank two days after this current ceasefire began, saying it was

aimed at eliminating terrorist and terror infrastructure. What is the Israeli strategy here to your mind, Nic?

ROBERTSON: It seems to be a continuation of what they have been doing previously in those West Bank towns and refugee camps like Tulkarem, where

the Israeli defense forces demolished some 14 apartment buildings, according to Palestinian officials and many Palestinian families living

there who weren't given a lot of time to get their possessions out before those properties were demolished.

ANDERSON: Right.

ROBERTSON: The narrative that's really become much stronger from Israeli officials, particularly, seeing as they're getting close -- the ceasefire

happened in Gaza, is that the threat from Iran is coming through and into the West Bank with financing that's bringing in weapons, that's bringing in

a threat.

And the way that manifests itself on the ground inside of the West Bank are tactics that the IDF says are like the same, like the tactics that they use

inside Gaza, which include literally digging up, gouging up streets, tarmac streets in these towns and refugee camps that the IDF says there may be

explosives under the road.

It is disruptive in the extreme, 40,000 people, according Palestinian officials have now been forced out of those areas over the past almost one

month now. It is a scenario that many in the West Bank fear will lead to potential annexation.

ANDERSON: Right

ROBERTSON: And potentially, you know, an environment that looks much more like Gaza.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, Nic. Thank you.

[09:30:00]

Nic is in Jerusalem. I want to get you to New York now, where we are just about to get the opening bell on Wall Street. The futures market has been

indicating a slightly weaker open. There are clearly concerns amongst investors about where this trade sort of tit for tat is headed. But also,

now the U.S. wading into what feels like a real sort of world of geopolitical uncertainty. More and that is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Let's get you a look at the markets we had the opening bell just before the break. The markets have settled somewhat, and they are lower, as

futures had indicated. Investors are really digesting yet another tariff threat from the U.S. President at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

On Tuesday, Donald Trump announced plans to impose tariffs of around 25 percent on auto imports as well as semi-conductors and pharmaceuticals. Mr.

Trump says the new tariffs could take effect in early April, after a review period. Well, experts are warning this could add thousands of dollars to

the cost of a car in the United States, where vehicle prices are already at record highs.

Well, CNN's Anna Stewart joins us with more now from London, could may potentially after a review period. So, let's just make sure that everybody

understands the caveat here is these tariffs may come in, in April, but what's Trump's argument for this latest tariff announcement? Is it a

threat, or do we actually, genuinely expect these to snap into place?

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the threat has been there now for months and months, ever since, really the political campaign to be

president, but whether or not they're actually going to happen is key. And what's so interesting about this announcement is more details will come in

April.

So why make the announcement now? And it does time out with the EU trade commissioner visiting the U.S. to start trade talks. Europe, of course, has

a huge target on its back. The president has made very clear that trade with Europe is, quote, very unfair.

[09:35:00]

And these tariffs targeting things like cars and pharmaceuticals will have a big impact potentially for Europe. With pharmaceuticals, it's Ireland

with autos, of course, it's Germany and German car stocks are down right now. Becky, I want to show you us car stocks. I think we've got General

Motors and Ford, both of those also trading down today.

You'll see them down around 1 percent, 0.5 percent, interesting because, of course, global supply chains are such an important part of car

manufacturing for these car makers. Mexico and Canada are a big part of their global supply chains. Lots of goods and maybes in the neighborhood of

25 percent at least that level we told for semi-conductors and pharmaceuticals.

They could be higher, you know, later in the year, and they'll probably be announced in early April. So, I think there's a lot of goods and maybes

which leaves room for negotiation.

ANDERSON: Yeah, doesn't it? Just always good to have you. Meantime, Anna, the tech billionaire in the presidential inner circle, is in the spotlight

again, perhaps we should be calling tech support, because that is the t- shirt Elon Musk wore for an interview alongside Donald Trump, conducted by Fox News. Let's just hear a little bit of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Elon called me. He said, you know, they're trying to drive us apart. I said, absolutely no. They said, we are breaking news. Donald Trump has

ceded control of the presidency to Elon Musk. President Musk will be attending a Cabinet meeting tonight at 8 o'clock.

ELON MUSK, PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: Yeah.

TRUMP: And I say it's just so obvious. But you know what I have learned, Elon, the people are smart. They get it.

MUSK: Yeah, they do actually.

TRUMP: They get it.

MUSK: Yeah.

TRUMP: They really see what's happening.

MUSK: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: I have to say, much of that interview was with Elon Musk. Let's Anna, just learn a little bit more about what we learned from him, if you

will.

STEWART: Well, I'd say most of the interview was really about the blossoming, dare I say, bromance between the president, Elon Musk. We got a

lot about their relationship and how the media is trying to tear them apart. But of course, there were also questions about what Elon Musk's role

is within this administration, and what the role of DOGE is? And this is what Elon Musk had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSK: One of the biggest functions of the DOGE team is just making sure that the presidential executive orders are actually carried out. And this

is -- I just want to point out, this is a very important thing, because the president is the elected representative of the people, so representing the

will of the people.

And if the bureaucracy is fighting the will of the people and preventing the president, from implementing what the people want, then what we live in

is a bureaucracy and not a democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: So, Elon Musk is implementing democracy fundamentally as his role in DOGE. And Becky, we have heard so much from Elon Musk in the last week.

We've had, of course, the big address to World Government Summit. We had the press conference yesterday about the new Grok 3, his -- AI chatbot.

And then this interview, it kind of feels like we are binge watching Elon Musk, and the subject matter is really quite varied.

ANDERSON: Yeah, but remember, he is not the U.S. President that is Donald Trump. OK, good stuff. Thank you. That interview conducted by Sean Hannity

at Fox. The last two champion league winners meet again in the second leg, and one of them will be going home by the end of the day. More on that is

up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: Well, it's a match that is turning into a bit of a modern classic, to be honest, Real Madrid and Man City. It's the latest

installment taking place tonight, with room for only one of them in the round of 16 of the Champions League. Don Riddell joining me now, and I have

to say, I am loving this new setup for Champions League, this new format --

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, it's been great, hasn't it? And the first leg of this tie was already thrilling, Becky, wasn't it, with Real

Madrid twice coming from behind to win it 3-2. The last three times they have played in the Champions League, the winner of the tie has gone on to

win the whole tournament.

So, there's an awful lot of stakes tonight. And not only that, the loser really does go home. In previous years, if you were knocked out kind of at

this stage, you'd go into the Europa League this time. There's nothing. It's all over for European competition. We've got two of the greatest

managers in Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola.

It's a real star -- cast out there on the field. So, I think it's going to be another terrific game this evening. We'll be talking about that in just

a moment on "World Sport". Plus, the rest of the Champions League news as well to come, Becky. It's good to see you again by the way.

ANDERSON: You got 30 seconds, so I'm going to steal a little bit more time with you and say who you backing tonight?

RIDDELL: Man City, had a really good win at the weekend, and they have been less than convincing in recent times. So, I despite the win that they got

at the weekend, I think I'd have to say Real Madrid. They just always find a way to get it done.

ANDERSON: Interesting --

RIDDELL: They've also not been as hot this season as Man City, but I think Real Madrid, they're at home, don't get it done.

ANDERSON: Yeah, I think I agree with you. "World Sports" up next. I'll be back at the top of the hour in 15 minutes time with the second hour of

"Connect the World". So please stay with -- us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

END