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Israel Defense Forces Claims It Attacked and "Fully Disabled" Yemen's Main Airport; Netanyahu Displacing Gaza's Population to the South "For Its Own Protection"; Second Round of parliamentary Votes in for Germany's Next Chancellor; Friedrich Merz Wins Chancellery; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to Visit White House; Met Gala 2025. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired May 06, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to our second hour. I'm Eleni Giokos.

We're following two major breaking stories in Europe. The German parliament is holding a second vote on conservative leader Friedrich Merz as

chancellor.

And then here in the region, Israel attacks Yemen's capital, according to Houthi-run TV, after an unprecedented evacuation warning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

GIOKOS: Israel is confirming that it has attacked Houthi targets in Yemen for a second straight day, the IDF saying it hit the international airport

in Sanaa and has fully disabled it.

This video showing smoke rising around the airport. The IDF says it struck several other targets around the capital, all in retaliation for a Houthi-

fired missile that landed on the grounds of Israel's main international airport over the weekend.

We're following the story very closely. We've got Jeremy Diamond back with us.

Jeremy, we're seeing these images of the smoke coming through from Sanaa. Give me a sense of what we know right now and the targets.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, these are some of the most significant Israeli strikes in Yemen that we have seen to date. And

the second round of strikes within just 24 hours.

All of these strikes over the last 24 hours have been in retaliation for that Houthi ballistic missile attack that struck right next to Israel's

International Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday.

You can see several plumes of smoke rising within and around the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, including from the airport itself, where the Israeli

military has confirmed that it did indeed carry out strikes directly on the airport; targeting the runways, aircraft and infrastructure at the airport.

They say that it has now fully disabled the airport itself. These strikes were carried out about an hour after the Israeli military issued an

unprecedented evacuation order for that Sanaa International Airport in Yemen.

Sending passengers and crew and staff scrambling in that hour before the Israeli military began carrying out those strikes, not only striking Sanaa

International Airport but also a cement factory, which was also struck last night in the first round of Israeli strikes there, as well as several power

stations across the Yemeni capital.

So these are some very significant strikes. We haven't yet gotten reports of casualties. The question now is whether this Israeli response will

indeed continue and whether or not we will ultimately see Israeli strikes against Iran as well.

There has been pressure on the Israeli prime minister, both from within his government as well as from leaders of the opposition, to level a cost on

Iran for its role in funding and supporting these Houthi militants in Yemen, with the Israeli prime minister and others saying that they hold

Iran directly responsible for these ongoing Houthi attacks.

But certainly a very significant situation. Heavy strikes in Yemen and, of course, the potential for this back-and-forth between the Houthis and

Israel to very much continue. Eleni.

GIOKOS: Jeremy, I want to move on to what we're seeing in Gaza and the rhetoric coming through from Benjamin Netanyahu's government regarding

relocating of Palestinians, also telling people in northern parts of Gaza to move to the south and some even receiving text messages to leave Gaza.

What has the response been?

What are you hearing?

DIAMOND: Well, there's no question that this decision by the Israeli security cabinet on Sunday, to expand the war in Gaza, calling up tens of

thousands of reservists and threatening to conquer and occupy large swaths of the Gaza Strip, is going to have an enormous impact on the population of

more than 2 million people in Gaza.

As well as on the fate of the 59 hostages who still remain in Gaza. And the Israeli prime minister has now made quite clear that he has made a

decision, that it is more important to him and to his government to destroy Hamas or at least attempt to destroy Hamas.

Over the other goal of the war, which has been to secure the freedom of those remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza.

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We have heard enormous concern from the families of those hostages about what this expansion of the war will mean for them, concern that it will

endanger their lives directly and also that it shows that the Israeli government is now prioritizing the goal of destroying Hamas over rescuing

those remaining hostages.

We know that there are as many as 24 Israeli hostages who are still alive in Gaza. But Israeli officials have told us that three of those 24, they

have grave concerns about their fate.

That's the same language that they have used for other hostages, like Shiri Bibas, for example, who ultimately was brought back from Gaza in a coffin,

unfortunately and not alive.

So we know, of course, that the families of the hostages whose remains are still in Gaza also want to get them back. But all of that now very much in

question as Israel prepares to ramp up these attacks.

But it has said that it will leave until the end of president Trump's trip to the Middle East late next week before it actually carries out this

expanded operation, giving a little bit more time for potential deal to be reached with Hamas. Eleni.

GIOKOS: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for that update. And, of course, keeping a close watch on what's happening there.

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GIOKOS: All right. I also want to take you to our other breaking news story. And happening right now, lawmakers in Germany's parliament have just

finished voting. That's for a second time on whether to back Friedrich Merz as chancellor.

And it comes just hours after the conservative candidate suffered an unprecedented defeat in an initial vote earlier today, most securing just

310 of the 316 that was needed in the first round of voting that was widely expected to be a formality, signaling deep discontent with his coalition.

So the voting has now ended. Counting has begun. We've got CNN's senior international correspondent Melissa Bell, following the latest for us from

Paris.

And I have to say, there was just visible shock in the Bundestag by lawmakers after Friedrich Merz did not secure 316 votes. Now voting is

being counted second round. Give me a sense of what the next steps are.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There was such surprise the first time round, not least, Eleni, on Friedrich Merz's face

itself. This was a man who expected then to go straight to the presidential palace, where he would have been nominated come back for the formal

swearing-in.

He was due here in Paris tomorrow, then on to Warsaw. It really was expected to be a formality. And yet six votes short. This new vote, we only

learned about an hour before it took place that it would take place today. There had been many questions about whether it might take place at some

point this week.

In fact, the urgency was such from many of the leading figures of Friedrich Merz's own CDU. That and the sense, as the secretary general said, that

this is -- Europe needs a strong Germany and that it was essential then that this procedure get on, be brought to an end quickly, that they did

manage to get that vote held.

We now await the counting of the vote. But I think what this unprecedented failure of Friedrich Merz to get that vote the first time around suggests,

it's not only a reflection, first of all, of the fact that there have been grumblings in both coalition partners about both the city and its Bavarian

sister party on one hand.

And the Social Democrats on the other about things like cabinet nominations, about policy decisions. There is unease amongst some rank and

file of the parties about this great spending plan that now lies ahead.

There had been disquiet on the progressive wing of the Social Democrats, about some of the immigration policies implemented by Friedrich Merz. I

think this vote certainly reflects that. Those grumblings were very real.

I guess the question now is, if he gets the votes this time, what lasting damage is done to the coalition, even as it begins its important work of

trying to pull Germany out of that stagnant economy?

It's been, in trying to pull its economy forward, trying to get that investment back into the country, even as it continues to try and pull

Europe together, standing firm with Ukraine and seeing off the threat of tariffs now on this economy that relies so much on its exports.

So huge challenges ahead. This was a coalition that was -- had come together relatively quickly but is not as strong as some might have hoped.

And I think this certainly suggests that there is disquiet in its ranks.

It will be interesting to see, first and foremost, whether this second vote gives Friedrich Merz the numbers he needs to go ahead and be chancellor.

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And that will be something of a relief for the leading -- the leaders of these coalition partners. If he does not, it will be a humiliating,

humiliating defeat. That does not mean it's game over.

They'll then have a couple of weeks still to hold another vote, where a simple majority rather than absolute majority, as we understand it, would

allow him to become chancellor. Nonetheless, still, the coalition and its strength and the confidence of its members in it would be substantially

weakened. Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes. And you say, is the damage done?

Is this lasting damage?

What does that look like?

The question, you know, that we now all have, because this was meant to be just a formality, this vote, because this is the first time that it's

happened in modern Germany's history.

What happened to those six votes, Melissa?

What do we know about the votes that he wasn't able to secure?

BELL: The trouble is that this is a vote, both the first one today and now the second one that's just ended, that is entirely secret. So unless a

parliamentarian chooses to speak out about how he's how he's voted, there's simply no way of knowing.

Which is why you've had all the wrangling and each side accusing the other of having some of its parliamentarians that have not toed the party line

and voted in the interests of the coalition that they had agreed on.

But really, the only real winners in all this throughout the day have been the far right. Remember, they came in, the AfD came in second in the

nationwide vote back at the end of February.

And they've been really picking up on this very vociferously, not least in the shape of their leader, who's been saying, look, Alice Weisel (ph), this

suggests that this coalition cannot stand. We need to vote again. And you're likely to hear a lot more of that.

The AfD really going to make a lot of noise about the fact that it's been difficult for Friedrich Merz to get himself through the -- what should have

been a formality. We hope to hear shortly what this vote is.

But assuming he makes it through and can get himself sworn in, as was planned, as chancellor today and go ahead with his trips to Paris and

Warsaw tomorrow, the following the coming weeks certainly suggests they'll be much bumpier than we had perhaps feared because of internal German

politics.

Because the AfD will feel emboldened, because the rank and file, disgruntled, some of them as disgruntled as they are already by some of the

decisions this incoming coalition is making, all of that suggests that this great push that Friedrich Merz had been determined to give to Germany as

the center of European.

Of the European Union, to Germany as he sought to revamp and renew and revive its faltering economy in terms of its place in Europe as it tries to

stand firm opposite the administration of president Trump and to continue giving its very firm backing to President Zelenskyy in Ukraine.

All of this, all of these vast tasks and ambitious policies that lay ahead will certainly have certainly seen a setback today in the shape of that

first vote. All eyes now very much on which way this second vote goes.

But to your question, there had been these issues raised by a number of parliamentarians today. There may have been a couple of MPs who were simply

not around and simply no way of knowing who decided not to back Friedrich Merz or why.

GIOKOS: Unprecedented moment. And we are looking at live images from the Bundestag right now. The ballots have been cast in the second round of

voting and they are currently counting. And hopefully we'll have a result on that soon. Melissa Bell, thank you so much.

We're going to have very a short break. We are following everything that's happening at the Bundestag today.

But still to come on CNN, we've got new audio of the scary moment air traffic controllers lost communication with planes at Newark airport,

triggering hundreds of flight delays and more staff hostages -- shortages, rather. We'll be back after this.

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GIOKOS: I can't hear you.

Guys, I've lost comms.

U.S. Transportation secretary Sean Duffy says his team is ready to radically transform the country's outdated air traffic control systems. And

he told FOX News they'll announce an ambitious plan on Thursday, which has buy-in from president Donald Trump.

Now the move comes just a day after CNN learned at least five FAA employees took a leave of absence to cope with the stress from equipment failures

that led to a communication breakdown with aircraft last week at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Their leave of absence compounding an already dire staffing shortage at that busy airport. CNN's aviation correspondent Pete Muntean joins us now

from Washington.

Pete, good to see you. So much happening. And I've just seen your reporting: 160 flights canceled, 425 delayed Monday as well. Give me a

sense of what's going on right now. I mean, some of the audio that we've heard, harrowing, absolutely harrowing. Losing radio, losing radar signal

as well. Give me a sense of what you're hearing right now.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest here is that the FAA has imposed yet another ground delay program for flights bound to Newark until

midnight Eastern Daylight Time tonight due to air traffic control, staffing shortages.

This is now the ninth straight day of these delays, Eleni. And that new audio and a new statement from the Federal Aviation Administration are

essentially confirming our reporting that paints the best picture yet of how this all started.

This all goes back to an incident last Monday on April 28th at a key radar facility responsible for Newark flights. And a source familiar with that

incident tells me that Newark approach controllers lost both radio and radar systems for an undisclosed amount of time.

Meaning they were essentially trying to do their jobs blind and without voice, not able to communicate to those airplanes, the source tells me.

That led to at least five air traffic controllers taking what's called trauma leave. That legally entitles controllers to 45 days off.

It is a huge development and really explains the delays that have been caused by these staffing shortages to worldwide impact here, because it's a

huge hub for United Airlines and so many flights, transatlantic and transcontinental flights coming from Asia and Africa go in and out of

Newark.

I want you to listen now to the new audio captured by live ATC Net. And in it a controller can be heard telling a smaller airplane to essentially go

away because he has no ability to pick up that plane on radar. Listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you do not have a bravo clearance. We lost our radar and it's not working correctly. Radar service terminates. Squawk VFR

change approved. If you want a bravo clearance, you can just call the towers when you get closer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, I'll wait for that frequency from you, OK?

OK, no, just squawk VFR, look up the tower frequencies. We don't have a radar, so I don't know where you are.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

GIOKOS: Breaking news coming in to CNN. Friedrich Merz is set to be Germany's next chancellor. Friedrich Merz said to be next chancellor at the

second attempt. That's hours after a stunning parliamentary defeat and securing the majority votes that was needed for him to get that position.

Initially, he only got 310 votes. The second round was able to secure the number that was needed. I want to get more on the significance of this

political crisis. Marina Kormbaki is the deputy head of the Berlin bureau at "Der Spiegel" and joins us now live.

Good to see you. And we've just had the results coming in of the second round of voting. I have to say, there was visible shock after Friedrich

Merz wasn't able to get that 316 votes that was needed.

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So Marina, give me a sense of what you're seeing and the fact that he was able to secure the second time round.

MARINA KORMBAKI, DEPUTY HEAD, BERLIN BUREAU, "DER SPIEGEL": I would say, yes, this is a great relief now here in Berlin that he achieved, Friedrich

Merz achieved now to get elected by the German parliament.

But like you said, nobody expected that he would fail in the first round of votes. And this is something Germany has never seen before in modern German

history. And I think this is a, I would say, a huge stain on Merz's term of office.

GIOKOS: All right. I also want to bring in Fred Pleitgen, who's standing by for us.

Fred, I want you to jump in here. We're talking moments ago, we were playing out the scenarios of what this ultimately means for Friedrich Merz

able to get those votes in now.

What's your initial reaction?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, I fully agree with the fact that this is definitely going to be a

stain on this chancellorship, to begin his chancellorship. I think one of the things that we are seeing now is that there is indeed a great big bit

of relief here going through political Berlin.

If you look over the past couple of hours, there were a lot of big organizations in Germany, also other political parties, even in parliament,

who were saying that they need to get this done, that this is already really bad for German politics and for the ability to govern that country.

And I think one of the things that makes this such an embarrassment for Friedrich Merz as he begins his chancellorship is that, after he won the

election, in February, he was the one who came out and said that Germany needs a stable governing coalition.

That was supposed to be what he was supposed to bring to the table, unlike Olaf Scholz before him, who had that coalition that obviously fell apart.

And I remember being at his first press conference after he won that election in February.

And he said that he understood that if he did not deliver for the German people, if the economy was not going to get a lot better than it had been

before, if he wasn't going to get immigration under control.

But then also, of course, dealing with U.S. president Trump and some of the things that are very difficult for Germany's export-oriented economy, that

he believed that the AfD could win the next election. He knew that he was under the gun.

And so this is definitely a very difficult way for him to start his term. Nevertheless, I think that there is a big sigh of relief going through

political Germany now that the country is going to have a government, that that government could yet be stable, despite what happened today.

And that they have already promised that they want to get things done as fast as possible. So I think, on the one hand, a great relief. But then

also, of course, a bit of humility as well for the incoming chancellor.

GIOKOS: All right, Marina, I want you to jump in here. Initial votes, 310, six short of what was required. Now securing 325. We are talking about

lasting damage here in terms of how this looks. It is an embarrassment. This is the first time it's happened in modern German history. But such a

big jump on the votes.

What do you make of that?

KORMBAKI: I think that the German lawmakers and Friedrich Merz's party, the conservative Christian Democrats, as well as in the party of his

partner, the Social Democrats, they finally realized that it's not the time for gambling, that it's really a serious matter they are going through

right now.

And I think that tomorrow morning -- I'm here in Berlin -- when they went to the Bundestag, the German parliament. So obviously there were quite a

many lawmakers who weren't obviously aware of the seriousness of this moment. And now they got it.

And this is why this second round is now so clear in results. But still, I mean, you know, half a year has passed since the collapse of the previous

German government.

And this day, this Tuesday was supposed to be the day, the day for Germany to return on world stage and to tell his partners that, yes, they can count

on Germany on its stability and predictability. But instead, yes, doubts about Germany's stability have likely grown, I think.

GIOKOS: Yes. Afraid in terms of when he'll be sworn in as chancellor, he does have to go to the palace first. Give me a sense of the logistics

behind what we're expected to see after this success, this moment of relief.

PLEITGEN: Yes, that's, I think that's going to happen in the next couple of hours or so that he's going to go to the presidential palace, that he's

going to get sworn in, his cabinet is going to get sworn in as well by Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German president.

And then they want to get going and get governing as fast as possible. I think one of the things that we have to keep in mind in all of this and one

of the things that certainly lot of Germans are going to be thinking about as well.

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While this is obviously a disappointment for Friedrich Merz and certainly a bit of a humiliation for him as well, it's not something that he can't

recover from.

If you look back, for instance, when Angela Merkel was first voted into power, she did win that election but she wasn't seen as someone who was

very popular personally.

Gerhard Schroeder, who was in power at that time, was a lot more popular than she was. And Germany was in great political turmoil and she just

barely scraped through and managed to win that election.

But then, of course, became certainly one of the most successful chancellors, at least for a very long time in German history. So certainly

Friedrich Merz still has all the possibilities to correct all of this.

But he certainly does understand as well that he is under the gun and I think he faces some of the same criticisms, actually, that Angela Merkel

faced before she was in politics as well before -- I'm sorry, before she was in power as well, in that he is not someone who is who is very popular.

A lot of people were thinking that his party was going to get a lot more votes than they actually did in the last election. Certainly the result

that he got while winning the election was a bit of a disappointment for that party.

And he knows that he's certainly not, according to his popularity, one of the ones who is the most popular politician or one of the most popular

politicians in Germany. It's something he's going to have to fight against.

And he's also going to have to show that he can actually bring that governing coalition together and make it a successful coalition, because

one of the other things about Friedrich Merz is that he has not ever led an administration of any sort in Germany.

And that's going to be something where he obviously is going to have to learn a lot very quickly. He certainly has put in place or wants to put in

place a lot of very competent people to help him along. But right now is a very difficult time in this country and he certainly is off to a very, very

rocky start and has a lot ahead of him.

GIOKOS: Yes.

So Marina -- and Fred makes a good point. He needs to bring a successful coalition together at a time where the AfD is finding an opportunity to

assert its strength.

With what we saw in the first round of voting, what do you think needs to happen?

As he was talking about stability, he wants to see a stable Germany in terms of policy.

What is the first thing he needs to do?

KORMBAKI: I mean, Friedrich Merz, he campaigned on bringing the German economy back on track, actually. So Germany is going through a recession.

And this is, I mean, business, German businesses were counting on Friedrich Merz.

And what we saw today when he failed to secure the first round of votes was the German stock market went down. So this is something that he has to gain

the trust of the German businesses, of the German economy.

And I think, yes, well, it is it is a very bumpy start. And since you mentioned the far right AfD, the Alternative for Germany party, I mean, I

think that they will benefit from this mess today because they campaigned in February when Germany had the elections.

They campaigned on the message that the parties of the political center are not capable to get things done. And so the performance from today, this is

something the AfD will use definitely for its own reasons.

And I mean, they are polling now around 25 percent. They are equal or even above Friedrich Merz's CDU party. So I think it's a it's a win for the AfD

today.

GIOKOS: All right. Marina. Thank you so much for that analysis. Good to have you on with us.

Coming up on the show, what to expect next when Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and U.S. president Donald Trump come face to face. We answer

that question right after this. Stay with CNN.

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GIOKOS (voice-over): Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Eleni Giokos. Here are your headlines.

Canadian prime minister Mark Carney will visit the White House today in his first face-to-face meeting with the U.S. president since taking office. The

pair are expected to discuss trade deals after Mr. Trump upended decades of free trade between the two countries.

U.S. Secretary of -- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is testifying before Congress this hour for an oversight hearing before the House Appropriations

Committee. Tomorrow, hell give his annual testimony to Congress, where he's expected to be grilled by lawmakers over tariffs.

And breaking news out of Germany, where Friedrich Merz has now won a second vote to be the country's next chancellor; 325 lawmakers voting to approve

his ascension, more than the 316 he required. It comes just hours after his stunning defeat in a first round of voting.

Friedrich Merz is now set to formally become German chancellor once he is approved by the country's president but he'll begin his tenure amid a time

of uncertainty in Germany. His first failed vote earlier today suggesting reluctance inside his own coalition. Anna Stewart is now following

developments for us from London.

And Anna, you know, I've been watching the German DAX, the Xetra DAX performance today. At one point it was down around 1.6 percent. And really

just, you know, showing that the markets were really not liking this instability that was created by that defeat in the first round of voting.

Take us through what we saw.

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And we're now seeing a half percentage lower, you know, kind of flat I'd say at this stage but it wasn't expected.

This wasn't supposed to be a sort of nail-biting day in German politics.

It was expected that Friedrich Merz would simply be, you know, get the votes he needed and be chancellor. This has come as a complete shock. And

it's actually the first time this has happened in postwar history for Germany.

He does have the votes, 325 votes. But the coalition is 328. And you also wonder whether the votes he got are from that coalition.

Was their fear more widely in the Bundestag of what would happen if, for instance, he lost multiple votes?

If, of course, there was an election, if the AfD had another shot at a German election?

Perhaps there were some fears in there as well. And as you say, it's this risk of instability at this stage. There is a huge amount that Friedrich

Merz would like to get on with once he has been formally appointed as chancellor by the president.

He has economic proposals to lower energy prices. He's got corporate tax cuts, bureaucracy cuts. He's got a lot on his plate and not that much time

to do it before summer recess. That budget timeline is looking quite tight at this stage.

GIOKOS: Yes and the DAX recovering somewhat, half a percent in the red. Anna Stewart, great to have you with us. Thank you.

And next hour, U.S. president Donald Trump welcome his Canadian counterpart to the White House. It's Mark Carney's first visit to Washington, D.C.,

since taking office. But it's not his first trip since becoming Canada's prime minister.

He flouted that tradition and went to Europe instead. Perhaps unsurprising, given Donald Trump's calls to turn Canada into the 51st state. CNN's senior

political reporter Stephen Collinson is in Washington for us.

Stephen, good to see you.

What are we expecting today?

A confrontation, shaking of hands, signing of deals, what is the sense when you have a president that wants to, you know, turn Canada into the 51st

state and, you know, Canadian prime minister saying, I need to protect Canadian interests?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: On the face of it, it looks like it could be a contentious meeting because, as you say, the

president has continued to talk about his expansionist desires regarding Canada.

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Saying the U.S. subsidizes its defense and that it should therefore be the 51st state, although he did at the weekend say that he didn't foresee using

military force to make that the position.

Which, if you think about it, is an extraordinary thing for a president to have to say. Carney, of course, has just won an election, which was framed

principally around Canada's anger at Trump and its rejection of his demands that it become part of the United States.

So on the face of it, it looks like it could be quite a difficult meeting. And I'm sure that the reporters in the Oval Office are going to bring up

the issue even if the two leaders try and smooth it over in their initial remarks.

That said, I think Carney has an opportunity if Trump wants to step back now, Canada could perhaps offer something to the U.S. president that he

really needs. And that is one of these trade deals that he has promised will be forthcoming, 90 deals in 90 days with 90 different countries, that

so far he's been unable to produce.

So if Canada can make some kind of offer to the United States, that might be welcomed by the president.

GIOKOS: Yes, that's a really good point on the trade deals and whether president Trump is able to sign any of them or get someone to agree. I want

you to give me a sort of rundown on the false claims that Trump has made over the weekend about military spending, about deficits and so forth and

what we can expect on that front.

COLLINSON: Yes, I mean, Trump makes all sorts of claims about Canada, which are not accurate but are refracted through his through his view that,

you know, foreign relations with different countries are purely a matter of dollars and cents, that one side wins and one side loses.

For example, he argues that the United States spends billions of dollars to defend Canada from adversaries, including Russia. But really, the reason

that the United States is in a partnership in the Western Hemisphere, NORAD, the command with Canada, is to further its own defense.

Because it's defending itself and the continent at Canada's borders and not necessarily those of the United States. So this is a very narrow view that

Trump has of U.S.-Canada relations.

GIOKOS: So Stephen, we're going to be watching that meeting very closely. Good to have you with us. Stephen Collinson there.

And still to come, Simone Biles and her husband, NFL star Jonathan Owens, make a big splash in blue and white at Monday's Met Gala, along with other

top sports stars. But not everyone was thrilled by this year's Met Gala theme. More on that straight ahead.

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GIOKOS: Welcome back. Now the first Monday in May means the Met Gala, where New York's Metropolitan Museum hosts what's become fashion's biggest

night. This year's theme, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style."

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan made his Met Gala debut and he admitted to some nerves but was confident wearing threads from Indian designer

Sabyasachi.

Check out the living legend, the boss, Miss Ross. This is Diana Ross' wheelhouse, wearing high-end fashion.

And after revealing her second pregnancy in dramatic fashion during her 2023 halftime Super Bowl, Rihanna followed up by debuting her third on the

Met Gala red carpet. And all eyes on her, that's for sure. Let's get to CNN entertainment reporter Lisa France.

I'm still going through all the pictures, I have to be honest, and I'm still picking out my best and favorite outfits.

How about you?

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there was so much. I mean, Zendaya, you know, so many other celebrities; Diana Ross

looked amazing.

GIOKOS: I was going to say she's my favorite.

FRANCE: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

FRANCE: Janelle Monae, just very clever.

(CROSSTALK)

GIOKOS: -- which is great.

(LAUGHTER)

FRANCE: Yes, very clever looks. And this celebration of Black culture and Black style at a time when many people feel like there's an attempt at

erasure of diversity and Black culture and Black history in this country was very important, very celebrated.

And a lot of people were just thrilled with not just the looks but just the theme and the celebration of Black culture in such an exquisite way. Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes. Absolutely incredible. I also want to talk about whether, I mean, paying homage to the actual theme and what that ultimately means and

whether, you know, the celebrities were able to really, you know, whether it's dandyism, whether it's, you know, Black culture, Black tailoring, I

want you to give me a sense of that.

FRANCE: Yes. I feel like it was a Blackity Black, Black night, as a lot of my friends were saying. And the celebrities really leaned into the theme

and brought a lot of creativity, brought a lot of excitement, brought a lot of homage and honoring of the culture, which I think was incredibly

important.

Not everybody loves the Met Gala, though. Some people feel like it's become extremely commercial, that there's too much of a focus on the celebrity

aspect of it and not enough on actually paying tribute to some of the people who broke ground.

And so that I feel like every year is a complaint, no matter what. The theme is that there's so much focus on celebrity as opposed to actually on

the fashion. But I feel like the evening is for people who both love fashion and love celebrity, because it feels like it's the perfect merging

of the two.

GIOKOS: Lisa, great to have you with us. Thank you so much.

And that's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST" is up next.

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