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Connect the World

California Sue Trump Administration Over National Guard Deployment; UK Sanctions Two Israeli Government Ministers; Greta Thunberg Deported from Israel; U.S. and China Resume Trade Negotiations in London; Judge Dismisses Justin Baldoni's Suit Against Blake Likely. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired June 10, 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, hello and welcome to what is very busy news hour. This is "Connect the World". I'm Becky

Anderson. It's 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi, CNN, Middle East Programming Headquarters. It is 06:00 a.m. in Los Angeles, where police are bracing for

a fifth straight day of 10 standoffs with protesters.

National Guard troops and now U.S. Marines on the ground in California, and it is 03:00 p.m. in Austria, where we are following breaking news this

hour. And that is where I want to start following a mass casualty event in the City of Graz. The shooter opened fire at a high school at around 10:00

a.m. local time.

And I do want to warn you that the video that we are about to show you is disturbing. You can hear shots ring out and screams. Well police say nine

people have been killed, including children between the ages of 14 and 18, and that several more people are seriously injured. Police say the

perpetrator is also dead.

Our Senior International Correspondent Melissa Bell following developments, and she joins us now. So, let's just start with what we know about how this

tragedy unfolded.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was at about 10:00 a.m. that local responders heard those gunshots inside the school,

responding as quickly as they could several vehicles that involved a helicopter as well. All we understand is that any danger has now been set

aside.

The perpetrator is dead, although we haven't yet had terribly much in the way of details about the perpetrator himself, simply that he is now dead,

as are at least nine people, including several children under 18 years old. This was, of course, a secondary school. It was the beginning of the day,

Becky. This is what a police officer had to say a short while ago about the chain of events.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SABRI YORGUN, AUSTRIAN POLICE SPOKESPERSON: Yes, in the morning hours, around 10:00 a.m. we received a call that several shots had been heard in

BORG Dreierschutzengasse. We then launched an operation with a large number of emergency services, including the special commando Cobra Unit.

We can now say that we have secured the situation, i.e. there is no further danger to the population, but there are several casualties. The pupils who

were still in the building have been evacuated by us and have been accommodated and looked after in a nearby area.

Another important piece of information is that a collection point has been set up in the ASKO Stadion in Eggenberg in Graz for the parents of the

pupils, where a crisis intervention team is also on site to look after the parents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: You can imagine there will be a great deal of shock amongst the parents, amongst the pupils that were there and beyond those who were

killed, and we expect to hear a bit more about them and the perpetrator at a press conference that we expect a little later this hour, where we hope

to get some more details about what happened and what police have begun to piece together.

Beyond those killed, Becky, there were more than a couple of dozen people injured. This was a very brutal attack carried out again as secondary

school children began their day, Becky.

ANDERSON: Melissa, we'll get back to you as and when we hear more from local authorities on what is now. You know this investigation a real

tragedy involving Graz in Austria. Thank you. Well, more arrests in Los Angeles as clashes between police and protests -- into another day.

Well, these protests running parallel with a broader power struggle over who is in charge. On Monday, California filed a lawsuit over decision by

the Trump Administration to deploy National Guard troops in response to the protests, which are about or over raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs

Enforcement or ICE.

The White House ordered the deployment without Governor Gavin Newsom's approval, which the governor called unconstitutional. L.A.'s Mayor says the

city has the resources to handle the protests and claims the president's intervention has worsened the situation on the street.

[09:05:00]

CNN's Kaitlan Collins asks Trump's Border Czar if the decision to call out the military was really necessary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, U.S. BORDER CZAR: Yes, all depends on the activity's protesters. I mean, they make the decisions. You know, I keep pulling media reports,

and they're rioting because President Trump sent National Guard. It's just ridiculous. They make the decision to burn a vehicle.

They make the decision that your weapon at an armed force and officer, they make the decision on assaulting officers. This is their decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, let's get you to CNN's Stephanie Elam, who is live in Los Angeles for you. It is early there, Stephanie. What is the latest on the

ground?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Becky, the sun is just starting to come up here. I can tell you, there were more protests last night, but not

on the same caliber as what we saw over the weekend. I want to show you this apple store here in Downtown L.A. They're busy cleaning it up.

Security has been in there overnight since this happened. You can see the graffiti that is here, and then just, you know, more of these messages

about no ICE because of the fact that there's this crackdown a lot of people protesting that there's two very different tones that you hear.

You hear the tone during the day where people are protesting these immigration actions, where they're going in and stopping people from

getting to some of their meetings so they can try to get citizenship. So, there you have people who are angry about that protesting.

But as the sun goes down, there's a different element that takes over, and that's where you've seen this destruction, this looting that is happening.

This also, there's so much graffiti that is in lots of Downtown L.A. But this is part and parcel of what you're seeing and what we've seen for these

last four nights, Becky, here, is a lot of this graffiti and then destruction of some of the storefronts that we're seeing here.

I can tell you that when we got out here overnight, that there were police officers that were breaking up a little bit of a skirmish here. But for the

most part, it was already calm, and it is very calm now, as we're starting this Tuesday morning here in Los Angeles, Becky.

ANDERSON: It is difficult for viewers sometimes to get a sense of the scope of these protests and this disruption in L.A. Can you give us just the

sense of that scope, just how much of L.A. is caught up in all of this?

ELAM: Very, very little, Becky. And I think that's something that's really important to get out there. The vast majority of Los Angeles is operating

as normal. People are walking around in flip flops and doing the things that they need to do, going to their yoga classes, all the things that you

would expect people to be doing in a big city, they are doing that they're going to work.

People are operating, busses are operating, trains are operating. It is very much normal, even in the vast majority of Downtown Los Angeles, and

that is where we see these protests that have been focused. So, it's livers of Downtown L.A., and this is what happens in L.A.

This is mainly where you see protests happen is in Downtown L.A., outside of these federal buildings and these city buildings, government buildings,

but for the most part, the city itself is fine. If you're looking at the Greater County, I would even say it's probably 99.9 percent of the county

is operating normally here.

And I think it's easy to get caught up with some of the imagery that we've seen, to think that it's the entire city, but that's just really not the

case here.

ANDERSON: Yeah, know. Good point, Stephanie, well made. Thank you. Let's take a closer look, then at why some people are angry about moves by ICE in

several cities, some migrants are finding themselves detained when they show up for scheduled appointments with agents.

That's happened to this husband and father in New York, for example, the appointments were designed to allow people to remain in their communities

while moving through the immigration process. But as CNN's Maria Santana reports, some are now being separated from their families right after their

regular check-ins. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA SANTANA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An emotional scene in lower Manhattan. This is where ICE houses its intensive supervision appearance

program, an alternative to detention, which requires immigrants to check-in regularly. Visiting this day is Jaen, a Colombian Immigrant.

We're only using his and his family's first names to protect their identities. His lawyer warned him that more and more people are being

detained at these appointments. So, Jaen is afraid of going in.

JAEN, COLOMBIAN IMMIGRANT: I'm very afraid to go in. They'll most likely separate me from my family in the most abrupt way, as has been happening.

SANTANA (voice-over): With him his wife Ambar and 12-year-old daughter, Aranza. They're afraid too.

[09:10:00]

They want to wish him luck, but it feels more like a goodbye.

AMBAR, JAEN'S WIFE: All we ask is to stay together. I mean, we're not doing anything wrong.

SANTANA (voice-over): Ambar says the family entered the United States two years ago. Father, mother and daughter, all with asylum claims still

pending since then. CNN has asked DHS about Jaen's case, but has not yet heard back. Though they told ABC News that those arrested had executable

final orders of removal by an immigration judge and had not complied with that order.

But Ambar says her husband has no criminal record and has been to all of his appointments.

AMBAR: We've been doing the best we can.

SANTANA (voice-over): They grow anxious as agents start bringing people out and between tears a prayer, but to no avail. Ambar can barely look. Jaen's

lawyer says his state of removal is pending, but she hasn't been able to get more information since he was detained. Maria Santana, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Thanks Maria. Maria Santana in New York reporting that. Well later today, President Trump will travel to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to

mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army ahead of this weekend's big military parade in Washington. He'll be joined by his Secretary of Defense,

Pete Hegseth and the Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, along with service members, veterans and their families.

This event is also part of a larger effort to mobilize military recruitment. Will CNN's Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak joins me.

Kevin, let's just talk about this parade. I mean, given the political sort of tension with California right now, how's the president prepping for all

of this?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I mean, you see the president starting today down in Fort Bragg in North Carolina. This is

really the kickoff of this celebration that he has orchestrated for the Army's 250th anniversary. He'll witness a demonstration while he's down

there.

He'll deliver remarks Fort Bragg is the largest military installation in the U.S. It's head of the Army's Special Operations Command. So, it could

be quite interesting what he's looking at there, but I think that the context here in the backdrop is the president's decision to deploy troops

on domestic soil, both the National Guard and the Marines.

And it all sort of creates this picture of a president who is very willing to use the military, either in this kind of parade or this kind of

demonstration or in this sort of law enforcement capacity that's very different from his predecessors. Both of these things are events that the

president had talked about doing in his first term in office.

You know this parade. It really originated when the president was in Paris with Emmanuel Macron watching a Bastille Day Parade in 2017. He wanted to

replicate that back in the United States. His military leaders at the time talked him out of it. Now, the president has fewer guardrails around him,

and they agreed to orchestrate this parade.

The same thing is true of his decision to deploy troops on domestic soil. He had talked and mused about activating the National Guard during protests

during his first term in office. Again, military officials talked him out of it. Now, the president has surrounded himself with leaders who are much

more willing to accede to his demands, and you're seeing how that's playing out in Los Angeles.

Now, this parade on Saturday is going to be a major to do. There are 28 Abrams tanks. They weigh about 70 tons each. They're concerned about the

effect that will have on Constitution Avenue. The city is prepared to have to repair those streets. Afterwards, there will be 28 strike armor

personnel vehicles.

Other vehicles, a World War Two, Arab B-25 bomber, 6700 soldiers, 50 helicopters, 34 horses, 2 mules and 1 dog. This is all meant, I think, to

design a birthday celebration for the army that the president hopes will instill a sense of national pride. It also happens to fall on his 79th

birthday, but the president, just yesterday says that this is not about him, that this is about the army, Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, sir. Well, much more news ahead here on CNN. The stock market in New York opens about 15 minutes from now. Bottom of the

hour in New York, 09:30 of course, it is 09:14 there are present futures indicating moderately positive start the U.S. trading day.

Still no real detail on whether there is any progress in U.S.-China talks which, of course, are being posted in London.

[09:15:00]

From Donald Trump's perspective, at least quote we are doing well with China. China is not easy. That was what he told reporters yesterday. More

as we get it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, breaking news, just into CNN this hour. The United Kingdom has sanctioned two far right Israeli government ministers. The sanctions

target, National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir and the Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem. And

Jeremy, we are just getting the detail on this. So, what do we know at this point?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: At this point, it appears that this will be a two-pronged sanction that we will see from the United

Kingdom, directed at Israel's Ministers of National Security and Ministers of Finance. It will be an asset freeze as well as a ban on entry into the

United Kingdom.

And this is quite a significant step following weeks, during which we have heard the British government warning that there will be consequences for

Israel's continued you know, blockade of the Gaza Strip for its escalating military campaign in Gaza.

And now we are seeing that the British government is taking these steps against two of probably the most extreme members of the Israeli government,

and that is the Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich as well as the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir.

We are already getting reaction from those two ministers. Itamar Ben Gvir saying that the sanctions do not scare him and that he will continue to act

for his country, for our people. He says, I will continue to act to make sure that they do not let humanitarian aid into Hamas.

We got through pharaoh. He said, we will get through this too. I believe there has also been a reaction from Bezalel Smotrich, which I'm finding

here right now. He is saying that he has heard about these sanctions because he is thwarting the establishment of a Palestinian state.

He says there couldn't be better timing than this, and that his response is one of contempt, effectively, for this effort by the United Kingdom. And he

is saying that we are determined to continue building. And of course, the targeting of these two ministers, beyond the fact that they are right wing

members of the Israeli government, is also because these are two of the members of the Israeli government who have pushed Jewish settlements in the

West Bank, perhaps more than any other.

And Bezalel Smotrich actually has an active role in doing so from his perch as a minister in the defense ministry as well, which is kind of his second

portfolio in the Israeli government. But make no mistake, this is an effort by the British government, after weeks of condemnations, a lot of rhetoric

coming from the British government, to actually take some hard and fast action directed again at these more extreme members of the Israeli

government.

[09:20:00]

ANDERSON: Smotrich, of course, approving the expansion of West Bank settlements. He's campaigned against allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza. I

think, at one point saying, and I think I'm right in saying that he would allow not even a grain of wheat to enter the Gaza Strip. Ben Gvir has

advocated, of course, for the replacement of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem with a synagogue and the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.

How unprecedented is this action is very significant by the UK. The UK is not the first to have sanctioned these two individuals, correct?

DIAMOND: Well, they certainly are kind of the obvious targets for any government that is looking to take action against the Israeli government

without, of course, going directly at the prime minister himself, and that's because of the comments that you just laid out, because of their

actions related to settlements in the Gaza Strip.

But I think a reality that is also important to acknowledge here is that while they may be the more extreme members of the Israeli government. In

many ways, they represent policies that the Israeli government itself, including the Israeli Prime Minister, have now begun to espouse quite

publicly.

And that is to say that, for example, with the latest expansion, the approval by the Israeli government of some 22 new settlements, or the

expansion of existing settlements in the West Bank. Just a couple of weeks ago, the Israeli government made very clear, in a way that it has not in

the past, that these efforts were being done explicitly to prevent the establishment of a future Palestinian state in the West Bank along pre-1967

borders.

And so, while that has effectively been the design of Israeli policy for some years now, we are now seeing them say, effectively the quiet part out

loud, more so than ever before. And so that is what makes these two men, obvious targets for the British government, but important to keep in mind

the way in which they have come to represent the broader policy of the Israeli government at large.

ANDERSON: Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar calling these sanctions outrageous, and it looks as if the Israeli government will consider how to respond to

what it believes is an unacceptable decision, the sanctioning of two of the sort of headlining right wing ministers that the international community

will be well aware of these days and know their names.

And before I let you go, what is the latest on the activists from the Madeleine ship, Jeremy?

DIAMOND: Well, 4 of the 12 activists who were on board that ship and detained by Israeli naval commandos who boarded that ship in international

waters have now left the State of Israel, including the prominent activist Greta Thunberg, who just arrived at an airport in Paris on her way to

Sweden. This is what she said as she landed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRETA THUNBERG, ACTIVIST: I did not recognize that I entered the country legally. I made it very clear in my testimony that we were kidnapped on

international waters and brought there against our own will, into Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: Now the eight other activists who are also detained from that ship, they are still being held in Israeli custody at the Givon prison in

central Israel. And according to their attorneys, the reason why they are still being held is because they have not signed documents consenting to

their deportation, maintaining that they are disputing Israeli authorities claim that they unlawfully entered the State of Israel, insisting that they

were attacked and detained in international waters.

Israel, for its part, has not disputed the fact that this ship was boarded in international waters, but they maintain that this was an action done

consistent with international law to enforce their naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Foreign Ministry had previously said that any of

these individuals who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel willingly would be brought before judicial authorities to authorize their

deportation.

And so that appears to be the process that is now indeed taking place and will likely end with their eventual deportation. Not clear exactly how much

time that will take, but for the time being, still being held in an Israeli prison and awaiting those deportation hearings, Becky.

[09:25:00]

ANDERSON: Good to have you, Jeremy. Thank you. Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that we are following. For you, those on our

radar right now are the following U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has fired all 17 members of an advisory committee at

the CDC which guides the federal government's recommendations on vaccines.

In an op-ed in "The Wall Street Journal", Kennedy claimed the group was plagued with conflicts of interest needed to be replaced entirely. Well

U.S. embassies around the world have been ordered to resume visa processing for international students going to Harvard University.

That directive was signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, showing the administration is complying after a judge blocked the administration's

attempt to ban foreign students enrolling at the Ivy League school. Well, the White House in Tehran has confirmed a new round of nuclear talks will

happen in the coming days.

This will be the sixth round of talks. Major sticking points do remain, as Iran insists on its right to enrich uranium, while President Donald Trump

has said Iran cannot be allowed to do that. Well, ahead on this show, investors on alert for any developments from a second day of U.S.-China

trade talks hosted in London.

We'll take a deep dive into what the two sides each hope to get out of that meeting and what traders are watching for. More on that is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Wall Street back in action, and it is also back to the bargaining table for the world's two biggest economies, China and the U.S. holding

trade talks for a second day hosted in London, both sides trying to preserve a fragile truce brokered last month when they drastically rolled

back tariffs on each other's goods for an initial 90-day period.

Well, today, sources tell CNN, the U.S. negotiating team, is considering easing up on some key export restrictions on U.S. goods to China. In

exchange, Washington wants Beijing to release high volumes of rare earth minerals.

[09:30:00]

Well, Justin Wolfers is a Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He joins us now from Ann Arbor in Michigan, and you

join us, and it's good to have you. You're it feels like a regular guest on this show. The bell is just ringing. Let's have a listen to that.

The U.S. trading day is about to begin, and we are expecting to see a sort of relatively positive start to the trading day, but really a keen focus

are these trade talks. How do you sense how these are developing?

JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: I mean, no one knows, because there's a bunch of fellas in a

room and they chatting to each other, and then they come out and they say simple things to the press, like that was fruitful, and they'd say that if

it was fruitful, and they'd say that if it wasn't fruitful.

I think the only thing we know is that no one has stormed out and in today's environment, that counts as good news.

ANDERSON: Pushing for a breakthrough over shipments of technology on the one side, and very specifically, you know, chips, let's be quite clear

about this, amongst other things and rare earth elements, China's rare earths. Why are they such a sticking point, a bargaining chip for China?

WOLFERS: So, this is how you use your trade leverage strategically. Rare earth minerals are used in a variety of high-tech manufacturing, goods,

cars, drones, defense equipment and so on. China mines about 70 percent of the world's rare earth minerals and processes about 90 percent.

So, these are critical, and they've got them and we don't. You can all of a sudden see how this becomes very important. It's also a form of leverage

that's very cheap for the Chinese. This is not a major export for them. So, if they stop sending rare earth minerals to the U.S., it's not really going

to affect GDP at all.

Now will affect American GDP if we have to stop making cars reorganize how and where and when we produce stuff. And so, there's a lot of leverage that

the Chinese have there. There was an agreement made in the Geneva talks that the U.S. would get access to those rare earth minerals.

The Americans are complaining that they're not getting access to that. But of course, talks afraid on well, the whole sense of agreement is frayed on

both sides, as each has continued to undermine the other, whether or not they're at odds with what was in the four corners of their original

agreement.

ANDERSON: Let's be quite clear about what it is that the U.S. has that the Chinese are keen on getting more of at this point?

WOLFERS: Technology. That's the short version is that the issue that they're talking about, particularly at the moment, is licensing high tech

chips used for AI. The Americans have tried to prevent others buying chips that come out of Hawaii, which is one of their major manufacturers.

That's the small thing. So, if you listen to what's going on, that's the story. You know, surely the broader canvas is what's important here. The

president has also moved to restrict and revoke the number of visas that Chinese students have in the U.S. So, there's also a broader sense of

leadership in the world, you've got two great powers butting heads.

They'd be better off if they could cooperate. That the Chinese feel that Trump is not cooperating. He feels that likewise. And so rather than kiss

and make up, they're each sulking in their own corners.

ANDERSON: So, this trade spot having a significant impact on China's exports to the United States. In May, at least, Chinese customs authorities

say U.S. bound, shipments slumped some 34.5 percent in dollar terms from the same month last year, with the 90-day deadline ticking down, no trade

deal has been done.

The trade agreement with the UK has not been implemented by the way. It was interesting to see these talks being hosted there. You know, that is, that

is a small deal, the detail of which is still sort of outstanding to a degree, but it's a deal that has been struck. But the kind of overarching

sort of story here is about Donald Trump saying he can cut these deals.

It's all about using tariffs as leverage. You know, he's got a whole bunch of outstanding deals which are just about to be signed. Are we seeing any

evidence of that? What happens next? I guess is what I'm asking. Because this first sort of, you know, two quarters as we approach the middle of

June, near the end of June, has been volatile, to say the least.

WOLFERS: Yeah, so let's be clear, this is bumbling incompetence by a White House -- over its head. You know, the background story is instructive.

[09:35:00]

On April 2nd, President Trump moved forward with what he called the Liberation Day tariffs. They were very high, they were arbitrary, they were

incoherent, and they were met with hostility around the world. Wall Street sold off, and every business that could call the White House called them

and said, please, don't do this.

So, remember that on April 2, what he wanted was tariffs. He was talking about spending the revenue. He wanted to keep tariffs high. It only took

seven days to understand that this was a very, very bad idea. And so, he instituted a 90 day pause and said, just kidding, I don't really want

tariffs, after all, what I wanted was leverage.

So, I'm going to strike deals with every country around the world. Well, he gave himself 90 days to strike deals. He hasn't really struck one with

Britain, and there are open questions about whether the steel tariffs mean that he's already breached whatever deal he would have had.

He has a 90 day pause with China, and no foreign leader has been seen leaving or entering the White House since, with the ongoing day to day

changes in tariffs, only a few would be negotiating with this White House right now. Navarro keeps saying there's 90 deals in 90 days, but I think

we're around about day 61 and the score is still 0 out of 90.

It doesn't seem like it's going to happen. So, it turns out the story that what he wanted was leverage isn't one that's working either. And I think

we're all very much waiting for what happens on day 90, because is he just going to change stories again? We couldn't get the work done.

We couldn't get a single deal signed and go back to astronomically high and incoherent tariffs. So, there's enormous uncertainty ahead of us.

ANDERSON: Yep. And meantime, there is a fed meeting, as I understand it, before that and a fed meeting after that. There have been concerns about

these tariffs being inflationary that has an impact on the market's bet on whether there will be further rate cuts, and at the moment, certainly the

June meeting isn't looking likely.

It gets more likely as the year goes on, bottom line and briefly, what is to your mind at this point, the impact on the U.S. economy and the wider

sort of global picture now and going forward?

WOLFERS: So right now, simply, it's hard to tell. We've seen people. We've seen soft indicators. Consumer confidence plummets, business confidence

plummets. You ask anyone, they feel miserable. They're spending their days planning. They're worried about the future, uncertainties that are an all-

time high.

But if you look at the data we have on what's getting made by who, how much is getting made? Do people have jobs? Those data are a little dated, but

they still seem to say, the little engine that could the U.S. economy is still chugging along. The question is, for how long?

ANDERSON: Always good to have you. I meant to say last time we talked that little fell over on your shoulders, over your left shoulder, I don't know.

I don't remember whether actually commented on that. That's a lovely photograph. Look as if you're having a lot of fun.

WOLFERS: It is a --

ANDERSON: Good stuff. Thank you. Still to come, a big World Cup qualifying match in Sao Paulo tonight, Brazil facing Paraguay. The pressure is on as

Brazil's brand-new coach makes his home debut. More on that is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: Well, a judge has dismissed the $400 million defamation lawsuit filed by Director Justin Baldoni against Hollywood power couple Blake

Lively and Ryan Reynolds. Now lively had initially sued Baldoni, claiming that while working on the film. It ends with us Baldoni sexually harassed

her.

She claims that when she spoke up, Baldoni's team orchestrated a smear campaign to ruin her reputation. Well, Deadline Hollywood, Executive

Editor, Dominic Patten lays out what this ruling means for the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOMINIC PATTEN, EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD: This is a huge win for Blake Lively. I mean, a massive win. You know, she made a move to have

this suit dismiss back in March. This has been dismissed in its entirety. Now the judge has said, Judge Liman has said that the Baldoni team, the

defendants, can put in a new amended complaint with much more limited claims that they can make.

They have until, I believe, June 23rd to do that. But at this point for a case that's going to trial on March 9, 2026, Blake Lively holds the upper

hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: But you know, Brazil has the highest winning percentage in World Cup history for next year's World Cup in America. Brazil still has to do

some work to qualify for the finals. Tonight, they have the chance to wrap up qualification, but they face a tough team. Their opponents are Paraguay.

Amanda Davies joins me now. What's the betting on this one?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, I mean, Brazil against Paraguay is one way to build up this evening's game. The other is Carlo Ancelotti's

66th birthday. It is the first time for everything he has won and done in his career.

It is the first time he will lead Brazil on Brazilian soil in Sao Paulo, with the weight of the expectation and the hopes and the dreams of this

nation, where we know football is a religion, what an occasion it is set to be. Have to say his opening game last week against Ecuador.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

DAVIES: Fairly underwhelming. There are serious hopes against Paraguay, but they are not going to be easy opposition. They sit above Brazil in this

qualifying campaign. They're unbeaten in 12 months, but this is the moment where Ancelotti will want his side to really, really make a statement.

But you know those old days, Becky, where we were like the Champions League final, and everybody goes on a footballing break. That is not the case

anymore. We've got these World Cup qualifiers gearing up for the Club World Cup.

ANDERSON: Unbelievable.

DAVIES: And of course, the women's Euros kick off in three weeks.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

DAVIES: And we've got the England Lionesses Coach Sarina Wiegman coming up in a couple of minutes as well.

ANDERSON: Terrific. That's "World Sport". That is after this short break. I'll be back in about 15 minutes time with the second hour of "Connect the

World". Stay with us.

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[09:45:00]

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