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Palestinian Official: One Dead, 48 Hurt in Chaotic Aid Drop; Merz: Agreement Reached on Production of Long-Range Weapons; Testimony Resumes in Sean "Diddy" Combs' Trial; Trump Media Plans to Raise $2.5 Billion to Buy Bitcoin; Chelsea Take Aim at Historic Win. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired May 28, 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, it's 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. You're watching "Connect the World". Coming

up this hour, my wide-ranging interview with the Prime Minister of Lebanon on everything from disarming Hezbollah to rebuilding the country's economy.

And Germany and Ukraine agree on jointly producing long range missiles in Ukraine. Well, the stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from

now. The futures market certainly indicating a mixed open. More on that at 09:30 U.S. time. Well, the U.S. and Israel apparently pressing on with a

controversial aid program for Gaza despite an alarming start.

Palestinian officials now say one person was killed and 48 were injured. A gunfire on Tuesday, a distribution side in Southern Gaza. Israel says it

forced fired warning shots as thousands of Palestinians swarmed what is the U.S. backed convoy, which was handing out aid for the first time. Here's

how one eyewitness described the chaotic situation, driven, they say, by desperation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAFIQ QDEIH, GAZA RESIDENT: I arrived at a place surrounded by Americans and the army. I tried to get closer, but because of the crowd, I couldn't

get anything. They treated us with a lack of respect, and they concentrated a lot of people in one area, which made it 400,000 citizens.

We were denied our dignity simply to leave our land, and we refused to humiliate ourselves for food and water. They want order, but there will be

no order, because these are desperate people who want to eat and drink.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well international aid officials had warned that this new scheme was flawed from the beginning. The main UN agency serving Palestinians

issuing a searing condemnation of what is its disastrous rollout.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILIPPE LAZZARINI, UNRWA COMMISSIONER-GENERAL: It was chaotic, undignified and unsafe. We have predicted that with this hub, people would be asked to

walk for kilometers, which seems to have been the case, waiting long hours in the sun, waiting to be vetted and clear.

And as you know, we as a United Nation, have said we cannot adhere to this way of providing assistance, because it falls short to abide to you

mentioned principle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: CNN's Paula Hancocks joining me here in the studio to discuss all of this is, of course, is a new mechanism rolled out earlier on this week.

Let's just have a listen to how the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, is touting the program, Paula.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: I'm so glad it started officially yesterday. There were lines of people that got food was not stolen by

Hamas. The manner in which was distributed is effective so far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, what Mike Huckabee says there seems to stand in pretty stark contrast to the reality on the ground that we described earlier in

the show. So, what's going on here, and what can we expect going forward?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, I mean, you could see the images. They are desperate people that have not eaten, have not had water

for a significant amount of time, and there was chaos as people were desperately trying to get something to feed their families.

One diplomatic official said to us, this was a surprise to no one. This had been warned about by the United Nations, by NGOs, because the issue is,

according to the United Nations, for example, is that there is going to be four sites where this aid will be distributed. We've just had a statement

from GHF that runs this, saying they now have two sites up and running and it will go ahead today.

But the fact is, three of those sites are in Southern Gaza. One will be in central Gaza. There's nothing in Northern Gaza, so everyone there has to

move south. The neediest, the ones that can't move, the elderly, the wounded, won't get anything because they won't be able to get to these

distribution points.

And the UN says they have hundreds of distribution points around Gaza. They know what they're doing, open the border crossings, allow more aid to get

in, and allow them to give the aid to the people that need it. With this GHF, it is a new idea, but at this point, it is stumbling.

ANDERSON: There is aid available at the border, we know.

[09:05:00]

I mean, there's hundreds and hundreds of trucks with aid available, but it just hasn't gotten in until this point. This is a U.S. backed scheme

secured by Israel, as I understand it. Why is it that the U.S. and Israel believes that this is a better form of distribution than the UN agencies

who we know have been in this business for years getting on with distributing aid. Where does the disconnect come?

HANCOCKS: So, the main point that the U.S. and Israel is making is that they want to make sure that Hamas doesn't get hold of this aid. They want

to make sure that it goes from the aid distribution center to the people that need it, which is fair enough. We've heard that there has been

looting, and the NGOs are very open about that, saying a lot of the looting is simply from desperate people, but there is looting trying to distribute

this food around Gaza.

So that is the reason that we're hearing from the Israeli side and from the U.S. side. There can be some very good reasons for trying these new things.

I mean, remember that the floating pier that the U.S. military did about a year ago no. It was a multimillion-dollar effort, and in the end of it, it

lasted a few months.

It was mostly not working because of bad weather, and there must have been maybe three weeks of functionality. So, there was an admission that that

hadn't worked, and they then went back to trying to put pressure on the border crossings being open. This is what we keep hearing repeatedly from

NGOs across the board.

Open the border crossings, allow the trucks through. Yes, some will be looted now, because the situation is so desperate, they're very transparent

about the problems in distributing this aid, but that is the best way to get it to where it's needed, because four points across a population of 2.2

million, you're going to have these bottlenecks. You're going to have these problems.

ANDERSON: Meantime, no signs as of yet of a ceasefire deal and hostage release. Where do we stand on that?

HANCOCKS: So, the latest that we've heard from Steve Witkoff, who is the Middle East Envoy for the Trump Administration, is that there is aid deal

on the table. There's a ceasefire hostage deal. He's told CNN that it's effectively that 10 living hostages would be released, as well as the

remains of 10 hostages who have died.

And there would be a temporary ceasefire in return for that, during that temporary ceasefire, there would then be negotiations to try and turn the

temporary into permanent. And he's actually said that he is happy to almost adjudicate that. So, insert himself even further into the process between

Hamas and Israel.

He says Hamas needs to accept that proposal. We've heard from a Palestinian official that Hamas has agreed to aid proposal. It's just not clear which

proposal. We have been here many times over recent months that there are many different reports out there about what Hamas has agreed to, but that's

where it is at this point.

ANDERSON: Where it is at this point is no ceasefire deal in place as of yet. It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. When the Israeli

government maintains it is determined to destroy Hamas to prevent any future attack like October the seventh. But Former Prime Minister Ehud

Olmert tells CNN, the death toll and the suffering in Gaza can no longer be justified and can only be interpreted as a war crime.

Where it is at this point is no ceasefire deal in place as of yet. It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. When the Israeli government

maintains it is determined to destroy Hamas to prevent any future attack like October the seventh. But former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tells CNN,

the death toll and the suffering in Gaza can no longer be justified and can only be interpreted as a war crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EHUD OLMERT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: What is it if not a war crime? I mean, how can a serious person representing the Israeli government can

spell it out in such an explicit manner that we should starve Gaza, that there should be no supply of basic, fundamental humanitarian needs to a

couple of millions of people living there.

They are terrorists that we need to fight. But this is not a war against Hamas. This looks more and more like a political war of the Israeli Prime

Minister and the Cabinet and the group of thugs which are now representing the Israeli government inside Israel and across the world are committing

actions which can't be interpreted in any other way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, meantime, the Israeli military still has five outposts in Southern Lebanon, despite agreeing to withdraw from the territory in the

ceasefire agreement signed last November. The Israelis say the Lebanese government doesn't have control of the area south of the Litani River,

which has been dominated by Hezbollah, of course, for years.

Well back in January, Lebanon finally ended two years of political deadlock, electing President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

[09:10:00]

Salam is widely seen as a reformist. He has promised to take control of the entire country and work to fulfill what is UN resolution 1701, which is the

basis of the ceasefire that calls for Hezbollah to withdraw from Southern Lebanon. Well earlier, I spoke to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam about his

progress in making that happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAWAF SALAM, LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER: Israel's presence is politically counterproductive. It's undermining my government. This is why, I mean, you

want Israel out yesterday, not tomorrow. Hezbollah's deputies by voting, I mean, for the ministerial declaration in Parliament.

Committed to, I mean, at least the three points that are in the -- three points which are part and parts of our ministerial declaration. One

monopoly of arms state alone should have a monopoly of arms in Lebanon. Two, one more time state and only the state may have a say in matters

relating to war and peace.

And three, to the full implementation of Security Council 1701. Actually, we are always not only asking the U.S., we are asking the U.S. and all our

Arab friends and international friends to put, I mean, pressure on Israel to deliver all these promises.

ANDERSON: Hezbollah has accused you of being a mouthpiece for the Americans, if you can't get the Americans put pressure on the Israelis. And

yet, the Americans are saying, get rid of the grip that is Hezbollah on Lebanon. Do you feel well supported enough by this administration in

Washington?

SALAM: I mean, we would like to see more from the American Administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And stick around next hour for my full interview with the Lebanese Prime Minister. We'll hear more on whether he believes peace and

normalization with Israel are indeed possible. Well, now to the war in Ukraine, and for the third time this month, a meeting between the Ukrainian

and German Leaders.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, greeting greeted with military honors in Berlin by the Chancellor Friedrich Merz. This a day after Chancellor Merz

announced that Germany and other Ukrainian allies had lifted restrictions on Ukraine using long range weapons against Russia.

The Kremlin slamming that decision as dangerous. Well Fred Pleitgen is connecting us from Berlin. Fred what came out of today's meeting?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Becky, there were many people who thought that maybe Friedrich Merz, the German

Chancellor, would then announce that the Germans might be giving cruise missiles, air launched cruise missiles, to the Ukrainians.

They're called the Taurus and have a range of about 500 kilometers. However, that did not happen at that press conference today and Friedrich

Merz said that while Germany's military support for Ukraine is going to continue and is in fact going to get enhanced by the Germans, that in the

future, the Germans are not going to be announcing specific weapons systems that they are giving to the Ukrainians, and also not announcing the

quantities of weapons that they're giving either.

Obviously, to try and keep the Russians guessing, is what the German side is saying. Nevertheless, one big significant announcement did come out of

this press conference where the two sides that they're going to be announcing a memorandum of understanding for the common production of long-

range weapon systems, long range munitions.

Now of course, that could mean anything from drones to cruise missiles, to air launch missiles to other forms of longer-range weapons. But the Germans

are saying that the production of these weapons is to happen either in Ukraine or in Germany or in both, and obviously the two sides are going to

work on that together.

So certainly, that is one thing that does seem like a pretty significant announcement, even though it appears as though it's a weapon system, or

could be weapon systems that would help the Ukrainians in the future, when they're actually able to develop these and then to produce them on a larger

scale.

Nevertheless, the Germans are saying that their support, economically and militarily for the Ukrainians are going to continue. I'm going to listen in

to some of what Friedrich Merz had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: We are financing a considerable part of the country's Starlink cover. And our defense ministers will today sign a

memorandum of understanding on the procurement of long-range weapon systems from Ukrainian production, so-called long-range fires.

There will be no range restrictions. Ukraine will thus be able to defend itself fully, even against military targets outside its own territory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Long range fires, the German Chancellor calls it. And just a hint that the Kremlin does appear to be watching all this fairly closely.

[09:15:00]

The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, was already asked about all this, about the specific announcement coming from the Germans, and he said that

he believes that the French and the Germans are, as he put it out doing themselves and trying to escalate the war in Ukraine, Becky.

ANDERSON: Fred, thank you. Alayna Treene with us from Washington. Alayna, this meeting in Germany today, amid increasing signs of frustration

directed at Moscow by U.S. President Donald Trump, but he reported threat of new sanctions. Just how serious is Donald Trump at this point?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Look, I think he is pretty serious. When my conversations with White House officials and other Trump

Administration officials, they tell me that he's definitely moving closer to wanting to potentially slap these sanctions on Russia.

And I think that's very notable, because for months now, the president despite other allies, including people on Capitol Hill, like Senator

Lindsey Graham, a Republican, urging the president to consider putting sanctions on Russia, but specifically kind of framing them as being

targeted to the way that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been acting.

The president has been hesitant to do so. A lot of his allies have argued it would be a good way to put pressure on them to really come to the table

and finalize a more lasting type of agreement and hopefully ceasefire with Ukraine. But the president has believed that doing so could actually cause

Putin to walk away from the talks.

And he has been worried that doing so, placing these types of sanctions on Russia, would actually be counterproductive to what they are trying to do

here. But that's no longer the case. For my conversations with senior Trump officials, they say that he is now very seriously considering doing this.

And it comes after weeks of President Donald Trump really growing increasingly frustrated with the Russian President. I want to read to you

just one of these posts that we saw from President Donald Trump, kind of showing this frustration with Putin. Yesterday, he wrote quote, what

Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean, in all caps,

really bad.

He's playing with fire. Now over the weekend, we also saw President Donald Trump argue that Putin had gone absolutely crazy for launching one of the

worst assaults on Ukraine that we've seen since the start of the war. All to say, when you get inside President Donald Trump's mind as someone who

has covered him now very closely, particularly on this front.

He is someone who -- when he entered office, he really did believe that he could reason with Putin that you know other people, particularly Former

President Joe Biden, never tried to sit down and talk to Putin directly, to try to really get them to come to the table and seriously talk about a

ceasefire deal with Ukraine.

But clearly, what the president has done, President Donald Trump, in recent weeks, hasn't been working, and he is starting to lose patience with the

Russians, because he really did believe that by this point, they would be farther along in their progress in trying to have lasting peace between

these two countries.

And so, it's still to be seen whether or not Donald Trump was actually going to move forward with this and place sanctions on Russia, but he is

definitely closer, Becky, than he's been before.

ANDERSON: Good to have you. Well still to come, President Trump's latest salvage tries and deter foreign students from applying to U.S. colleges and

universities. Live report on that is just ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:00]

ANDERSON: Well, the Trump Administration appears to be doubling down on efforts to deter foreign students from studying in the United States. The

Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, sent a cable on Tuesday ordering embassies to pause all new student visa appointments.

Now, the State Department plans to require foreign students to go through more extensive social media vetting this. Plus, President Donald Trump

zeroing in on Harvard University has foreign students feeling unsure about the future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDULLAH SHAHID SIAL, PAKISTANI HARVARD UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I haven't had the time yet to think about my backup plans, but as of now, I don't think

anyone is sure if they can return for their fall semester, back into Harvard and more broadly, back into the U.S. In that case, I would have to

look for other for other options.

I haven't looked at the list yet for the next available ones, because the most transfer windows for most colleges have already been closed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well CNN's State Department Reporter Jennifer Hansler, joining me now. Jennifer, what more do we know about this move by the State

Department, and where does it leave international students as they prepare for what is the upcoming fall semester?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well Becky, yesterday, all embassies and consulates around the world received a cable signed by

Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying, effective immediately, they should pull down all new student visa appointments, all new student visa

interviews.

Now those who had already had one scheduled could move forward, but they say they are doing this as they prepare to roll out this enhanced social

media screening and vetting process. And this leaves a lot of people in limbo, because right now is the time of year when a lot of students are

going to embassies and consulates to conduct those interviews to get their visas to come and study here in the United States in the fall.

Now the State Department said they anticipate this guidance on this new vetting process to go out in the coming days, but there are a lot of

questions still, once that gets rolled out, on how this will impact? How consulates and embassies are able to process these student visas?

The State Department cable itself said this is expected to have potentially significant implications on consular operations, meaning they might not

have as many people, or the workload might be too much to a process as many visas as they have in the past.

So, this is leaving a lot of questions and a lot of students who would be coming to the United States, who have already been accepted here in

universities with a lot of questions moving forward, Becky.

ANDERSON: Right, and Jennifer, what does this social media vetting entail? Is it clear?

HANSLER: It's a great question. We don't really have a clear sense of what this going to entail, largely because you are already required to put down

your social media presence when you apply for any sort of visas to come the United States, that's been the procedure since 2019.

Now, more recently, there has been some enhanced vetting related to allegations of antisemitism, potential ties to national security issues.

So, it's unclear what this larger enhanced vetting that is going to be coming to all student visa applicants could entail.

Now, the State Department has said this is due to vetting that they always do extensive vetting for anyone who's coming to the United States, and they

said these appointments are, quote, dynamic. So, we'll wait and see what this vetting actually entails, whether they actually roll out this new

guidance in the coming days, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah, it's complicated stuff, isn't it? And I'm sure, very destabilizing for many of these youngsters who are looking for an

opportunity with a U.S. university. All right, thank you. Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar. Right now, and

at least five people are dead and six are still missing after an explosion of the chemical plant in the Chinese province of Shandong.

That happened on Tuesday, more than a dozen were injured in the blast, which took buildings miles away from the plant, according to local people.

Well authorities say 55 fire and rescue vehicles were deployed to the site. The cause of that explosion is not yet known. Well. Testimony has just

resumed in the Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking trial.

Jurors are due to hear from officers who investigated a 2011 break in that rapper Kid Cudi's home. On Tuesday, a former assistant Combs testified that

her boss carried out the break in after saying he planned to kill Cudi.

[09:25:00]

Well Combs' on and off girlfriend Cassie Ventura was dating Cudi. Well, the Czech Republic is accusing China of conducting a malicious cyber campaign

targeting communications inside the Czech Foreign Ministry. So, it summoned the Chinese ambassador to condemn the attacks, which it says have been

happening since 2022.

China's embassy in Prague is not commenting. You're watching "Connect the World". We'll be back with a lot more news, including the opening bell on

Wall Street, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson, you're watching "Connect the World" from our Middle East programming hub here in Abu Dhabi. These are your headlines.

And a controversial aid group backed by the U.S. and Israel now says it has two sites up and running in Gaza, and that distribution of aid will

continue today.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the GHF also denies there were any casualties during its first relief drop on Tuesday. Palestinian officials

say one person was killed and 48 were injured by gunfire. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is calling on the Trump Administration to put more

pressure on Israel to withdraw fully from Lebanon.

The Israeli military still maintains a number of military outposts in Southern Lebanon, despite agreeing to a complete withdrawal from the

country in a ceasefire deal broken by the U.S. last November. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says his country and Ukraine have agreed on

common production of long-range weapons inside Ukraine.

He spoke after his third meeting this month with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. On Tuesday, the chancellor announced the lifting of

restrictions on Ukraine using long range weapons against Russia. Wall Street investors eyeing fresh data this week out that will be giving a

better picture of the impact of President Donald Trump's trade war. This is the opening bell on Wall Street for you.

[09:30:00]

And there you go. We are out of the gates and trading has begun. AI chip giant Nvidia set to report its first quarter earnings after the market

closed today, attention, though, will be focused on how Nvidia has responded to a $5.5 billion hit it says, it took after the Trump

Administration put tighter controls on its exports to China.

Also later today, the U.S. Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its meeting earlier this month where the central bank kept interest rates

unchanged. Excuse me. CNN Reporter Matt Egan has the very latest from New York. And Matt, just before we start, let's bring up the markets, and they

are there in the green, but only just.

And this really indicated by the futures market today. So, it's not a great dash out of the gate by any stretch of the imagination. What are we

watching for today with Nvidia and these fed minutes, explain?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, Becky, as you note U.S. markets off to a pretty quiet start to the day after yesterday's blockbuster gains, where

the DOW surged more than 700 points, almost 2 percent on the day that, of course, was driven by relief over the president walking back his own

threats to put big tariffs on the European Union.

Now the big focus today, all eyes, of course, are on Nvidia, right? Nvidia is not just the world's second most valuable company, it's arguably the

most important stock in the world, because it is really at the forefront of this AI boom that investors have been betting on.

And as far as the earnings after the bell today, I think two big things that we're going to be paying very close attention to. First off, what does

Nvidia say about the impact from the Trump Administration's crackdown on exports of these advanced AI chips to China, right?

Any new details there, I think, will be important, but perhaps even more important is going to be what Nvidia says about demand for its leading-edge

chips outside of China, right? Because investors are betting that this AI boom is really just starting right, that we are in the early days here.

And no one is better positioned to confirm that theme than Nvidia. And so, what that company says could really move not just this stock dramatically,

but the entire stock market as well. And I would just note that Nvidia share price has been moving all around. I mean, as recently as early April,

this stock was trading around $90, $95 that was during the peak of the trade war sell off on Wall Street.

But as you can see, it stormed all the way back above $135 it's just stunning to see a company where trillions of dollars move that

dramatically. But the other big focus today, of course, is the Federal Reserve. We're expecting the meeting minutes to come out at 02:00 p.m.

Eastern.

I think these minutes are going to paint the picture of a central bank that has been just sort of paralyzed by uncertainty, right? The officials there

just don't know where tariffs are going. They don't know what the damage is going to be. So, we're going to see some more obvious signs that they are

gripped by this uncertainty.

But Becky, I think that investors and economists and fed watchers, they're going to be looking for clues into how the fed would respond. Should we get

some tariff driven inflation in the coming months, as many economists expect, but also, in case we get some tariff driven job loss in the coming

months and what exactly it would take for the fed to step in by lowering interest rates?

ANDERSON: It's a really interesting time, isn't it? Look let's wait to see what those minutes look like. The Nvidia stock price pretty much even ahead

of these numbers. So that's one to watch after the market closes, you rightly point out Truth Social owner Trump Media announced Tuesday plans to

amass a 2.5-billion-dollar war chest that will buy bitcoin. Can you just explain what their strategy is here?

EGAN: Yeah, Becky, well, listen, they're going head first into bitcoin, right? They are raising 2.5 billion dollars from dozens of investors to

amass. Yes, this war chest that will be designed to buy bitcoin now. This is part of a broader move where a number of other companies have decided to

put cryptocurrencies on their balance sheet.

It's also part of a broader effort by Trump media to evolve, right? They started off as kind of a one trick pony focused exclusively on social media

with Truth Social but they want to evolve into becoming an America First holding company, and they say they view bitcoin as central to that

evolution.

[09:35:00]

And so, it is notable that we're going to see a company whose brand is really built around that of the president's now going really head first

into cryptocurrency. This is not sitting well with ethics watchdogs, because remember, the president was elected last year with significant

support from the crypto industry.

And he promised to take a much lighter touch when it comes to regulation, to make America the crypto capital of the world, and to even establish a

crypto stockpile, something that he's already done. And just to remind you how we got here, Trump Media launched soon after President Trump left the

White House in 2021.

The company went public last March, and then after Trump won the election, he transferred his shares in this company to a revocable trust of which he

is the sole beneficiary and the trustees. The trust, sole trustee is Donald Trump Jr., the president's son. Now I talked to Richard Painter, he was the

ethics czar under President George W. Bush.

And he said, look, this is a big conflict of interest. He said, President Trump's executive orders, his administration's regulatory policies and his

plans for a national crypto reserve are inflating asset prices in crypto markets. At the same time the president and his family are investing in

crypto.

I reached out to the White House. A spokesperson dismissed this argument, telling me that President Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his

children, and that there are no conflicts of interest, Becky.

ANDERSON: Thank you, Matt. Well, in a few hours from now, U.S. Vice President JD Vance due to give a speech at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in

Las Vegas. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. also expected to make an appearance a little later. Last year at this event, their father, then a

presidential candidate, of course, promised that he would make crypto investors wealthier.

He kept his promise by rolling back regulations, as Matt was explaining on the industry. Will CNN, Chief Data Analyst, Harry Enten joins me now from

the magic wall. Talk to us about how Americans feel about crypto and Trump's investment in it. What have you got?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yeah, this, to me, is one of the most stunning trends that we have seen in American Politics and the American

culture over the last decade that I can recall. What are we talking about here? Why does Donald Trump love crypto right now?

Well, let's just start off with a very simple proposition, should crypto be legal? You go back a decade ago, in 2014 it was just 38 percent of

Americans who thought that cryptocurrency should be legal. Look at where that number is now in 2025, 55 percent the majority of Americans believe

that cryptocurrency should be legal, just 38 percent believe it should be illegal, at least most of the time.

This is a big trend line, one that Donald Trump is absolutely capitalizing on. But of course, it's not just about views of crypto it's about crypto

owners in particular, and how much and how important they were to Donald Trump's reelection in 2024. What are we talking about here?

Well, I want you to take a look at the trend line here. This is Trump's margin among crypto owners compared to overall. In 2020 he actually did

worse among crypto owners than he did overall. He did four points worse. Look about 2024 though, Donald Trump went out, he campaigned for the crypto

owners' votes.

He made promises to crypto owners, and all of a sudden, his support went way up among them. Get this, he did 19 points better among crypto owners

than he did overall. Winning that vote rather easily. I say this, Becky, and I don't take it lightly. I do believe that crypto owners may have made

the difference for Donald Trump in the 2024 election, getting him elected.

Of course, it's not just about politics, right? It's about economics and the Trump family economics. And let's take a look here. This is an estimate

from Bloomberg from last month, how much has the Trump family made, at least on paper when it comes to crypto? Get this.

As of April, they've made about $1 billion. Now, that is from their own crypto coins, that is from mining, that is from investments. But the bottom

line is this, Becky, is that crypto currency has been very friendly to Donald Trump. It got him, in my opinion, perhaps reelected in 2024 and it

has also helped him line his own family pockets.

ANDERSON: Yes, interesting, isn't it? It's good to have you. Thank you, Harry.

ENTEN: Thank you.

ANDERSON: Right. You're watching "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson, still to come. Can Chelsea become the first team to win all four

major European club competitions? New Blues go for the conference league title tonight. More on that is after this.

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[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: Well, the UEFA Conference League Final starts a few hours from now, and Chelsea the favorites to win when they take on Real Betis. Andy

Scholes joins me now. Maybe not the biggest trophy that people might have heard about, but certainly an important one, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, Chelsea would take it at this point, right? Becky, they'd be the first club ever, to win all for

the major European competitions.

ANDERSON: Yeah absolutely.

SCHOLES: And, you know, they qualify for the Champions League on the final day of this season. You know, all of the fans have not really bought into

Enzo Maresca's style of play yet, but if he was able, you know, trophy solve those problems, right, Becky, you win them.

Fans can be happy about it and feel better about how your team's playing. Well, we'll see they're taking on a Real Betis team that, you know, they're

scrappy. Antony on loan right now. He's been playing great. This should be a really fun competition. Betis, you know, they've never won a Europe --

big European trophy.

So, this would certainly be cool for their fans. It's going to be a fun one, though. It's kind of like a David versus Goliath when it comes to team

finances. You know, Chelsea spent, you know, a billion dollars on their players since 2022 Betis not nearly that much. So, it should be a fun one.

Looking forward to it later on today.

ANDERSON: Good stuff. And we will watch that, and we will listen to the build up for that on "World Sport", which comes after this short break.

We'll be back with "Connect the World" in 15 minutes time. Stay with us.

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