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Israel Carries Out Strikes on Syrian Government Forces; Series of Airstrikes Hits Syrian Capital Damascus; Trump & Qatar PM to Discuss Gaza Ceasefire; Meta/Aws Partnership will Provide Tech Support, Cloud Computing Credits to Startups; World Number One Questions the "Point" of Golf. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired July 16, 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, breaking news this hour, the Syrian capital is being hit, and state TV says Israel is responsible.

It is 04:00 p.m. in Damascus. It is 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi's CNN Middle East Programming Headquarters. I'm Becky Anderson, you're watching

"Connect the World".

Let's get straight to the very latest inside Syria. And the capital Damascus, being hit by a series of air strikes. State media blaming Israel

and the Israeli Defense Minister shared video of the attack, saying, quote, the painful blows have begun. Well earlier today, Israel said it has struck

the entrance to the headquarters of the Syrian armed forces in the capital.

Now this is what we know. On Tuesday, Syrian government forces were sent to the Druze stronghold of Suwayda in the south of Syria after days of

sectarian violence there between the Druze and Bedouin tribes. In response, Israel, which has vowed to protect the Druze community, began launching

strikes on the Syrian forces advancing towards Suwayda.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem. Salma Abdelaziz joins us live from London. Jeremy, let me start with you. What do we know about what is

happening right now in Damascus? We do have live pictures of the capital that we can bring up as you are speaking.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, as we have seen, the Israeli military has been carrying out air strikes in the Syrian

capital of Damascus. We know of at least one strike at the entrance to Syria's military headquarters, there two civilians were injured as a result

of that strike, according to Syrian state TV.

We have also seen several other strikes in Damascus, some of which we are still working to confirm the exact location of them, but there have been

reports of strikes near the defense ministry as well as near the presidential palace. But what we are watching here on the Israeli side of

the border is really quite stunning, Becky.

And that is that we are seeing Druze, individuals in Israel, either Israeli Druze, or Syrian Druze who live in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights,

attempting to cross into Syria to try and help their fellow Druze brothers in Syria, who have been under attack in the City of Suwayda.

And we are seeing hundreds of these Druze individuals crossing the Israeli border fence into the Israeli controlled buffer zone inside of Syria trying

to make their way to presumably that City of Suwayda. It has been an extraordinary scene to witness these hundreds of people who have broken

across this guarded border fence.

We have seen the Israeli military out deploying tear gas to try and get these individuals, many of whom are Israeli citizens, back onto the other

side of the border. The Israeli Prime Minister has addressed the matter directly, saying that the situation in Suwayda, that southern city with a

very heavy Druze population, calling that situation very serious, but saying that he has one request for the Druze population in Israel, and that

is, quote, do not cross the border.

He maintained that the Israeli military is carrying out actions. And indeed, we have heard from the Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, who

said that Israel will intensify its attacks on government forces if they do not withdraw from Suwayda. And indeed, in addition to the strikes that

we've seen in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

There have also been Israeli strikes in and near Suwayda, including strikes on tanks and other heavy equipment trucks carrying machine guns, according

to the Israeli military that they say were headed toward that City of Suwayda, Becky.

ANDERSON: We'll come back to you stand by. Just want to get Salma up at this point, you've done a lot of reporting and producing from Syria. What

do we understand to be happening in the south, in Suwayda at present, on the ground? We are seeing strikes, and we understand, and we are reporting

on heavy fighting there. Just explain what we understand to be going on.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so absolutely, the flash point of Suwayda, which is a stronghold for this Druze community. They are a

minority group, but they are a majority in this city, and that is where these clashes broke out over the weekend between Bedouin tribes and this

Druze community.

[09:05:00]

Now we have images to show you of what that outbreak of violence looks like on the ground, gunfire on the streets, armored vehicles, terrified

families, as you can imagine, and with that outbreak of violence over the weekend, dozens of people were killed. That's what prompted the Syrian

government to send forces to Southern Syria.

It says, the Syrian government says, in an attempt to quell the unrest, to calm what you're hearing and you're seeing there on your screen. But

Israel's response, Israel's intervention in what is a domestic affair, has of course, poured fuel on this fire. The Syrian government's push to try to

assuage the clashes in that area as part of a wider effort, Becky, of course, to try to end sectarian violence in the country that looks very

much like a situation that the country does not have a grasp on.

And it makes it ever more difficult for government forces to reestablish control in an area when Israeli forces say they have no right to be there.

Israel has declared a unilateral demilitarized zone in this part of Syria, something the Syrian government says it does not agree to.

It is calling on Israel to stop. It is accusing Israel of violating its sovereignty. So, you have a tinderbox here, Becky, with foreign

intervention from Israel, very much exacerbating that situation on the ground. And you heard from my colleague, Jeremy, as well, more individuals

as well, potentially going into Syria and adding to that chaos.

ANDERSON: Yeah. And I want to be absolutely clear, Jeremy, I'm going to bring you back in that we are getting reports of barbaric attacks on the

civilian population in Suwayda, and we will get more reporting on that as we move through the next couple of hours. Let's just be quite clear about

this, why are the Israelis getting involved, and why have they vowed to protect the Druze community?

DIAMOND: Well, the Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, kind of laid it out this morning, saying that there are two primary reasons for Israel

intervening in Syria. The first of which he said is that Israel is trying to protect itself, that it does not want to allow certain armed elements

along its border in that southern part of Syria.

So, there is a national security interest they say. The second element, though, which seems to be the most salient one at this moment, is that they

say that they have an interest in protecting the minority Druze community in Syria, citing strong bonds that Israel has with the Druze community.

And what's important to also understand is that the Druze community is not a monolith. First of all, the Druze are a religion. They live in Syria,

they live in Israel, they live in Lebanon as well. And there are very much differences, not only between the Syrian Druze and the Israeli Druze, the

Lebanese Druze, but also within the Syrian Druze community itself.

You know, there are several prominent clerics within the Syrian Druze community, one of whom has very openly allied himself with Israel, and has

had communication with the spiritual leader of the Druze here in Israel, and there has been a constant back and forth there, including with that

cleric requesting support and assistance from the Israelis.

The Israeli Druze community here, as well as the Syrian Druze who live in the Golan Heights, some of whom have Israeli citizenship, but most of whom

do not. They have, of course, a very, very strong affinity with the Syrian Druze community in Syria proper.

And have felt extraordinarily concerned over the course of the last several months, as they have witnessed attacks being carried out on that Druze

community, especially in this City of Suwayda, we have seen Israeli Druze members of the military protesting at the border, saying that they want to

go there and fight to defend their Syrian Druze brothers.

The Israeli government, of course, carrying out these strikes, but also urging those Druze individuals in Israel not to cross the border, not to

take matters into their own hands. But given some of the images that have been circulating here in Israeli media of some of the attacks that have

been carried out on the Druze in Suwayda, as you can see, many individuals are feeling compelled to act on their own.

And that is why we are seeing these scenes now of hundreds of people crossing into this buffer zone in Syria, which Israel controls, and trying,

ultimately to get all the way into Syria and to that City of Suwayda.

[09:10:00]

ANDERSON: To both of you, thank you. I want to bring in Danny Makki. He's an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Institute who is in Suwayda. He has

been covering this story from the ground. Joining us now and very disturbing reports of barbaric attacks, deadly attacks, on the civilian

population there, where you are right now. Just describe what you have seen and what you are hearing on the ground.

DANNY MAKKI, ASSOCIATE FELLOW AT THE MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Well, I was in Damascus, actually before, and the situation in Suwayda yesterday, when I

was there, was really bad. What we actually saw was a number of different military groups assaulting the city.

We saw and we witnessed the Syrian government forces and internal security taking the City of Suwayda and then retreating, and then Druze forces

retook the city later, and we've seen wide scale clashes escalations since Israeli attacks and air strikes on Syrian government positions, and it's

just been chaos for the last two to three days.

Now, this all started off because of a gunfight between Syrian Bedouin tribesmen and Druze militias. Now you have the main Druze militia, which is

backed by Sheik Hikmat al-Hajri, who is the main Druze official, who does not want to have a peace agreement with Damascus, and he's been calling for

Israeli help.

Now what we've seen since then is basically the wider Druze community welcoming the Syrian military forces into Suwayda, with the exception of

Hikmat al-Hajri. Now what we've seen from Syrian forces is wide scale humiliations of Druze figures, of Druze notables and elders shaving their

mustaches off.

We've seen summary executions in some of the houses, and really horrific scenes coming out of the province in something that we did not expect. I

mean, there's a big differentiation between Druze militias and the Druze civilian population, and this comes on the back of what happened in the

Syrian coast and clashes in Druze areas around Damascus.

And what we're really seeing is the kind of destruction of trust between some of these minorities and the Syrian government, and that's something

which needs an immediate ceasefire and to stop any escalations, because these escalations, at the moment, are creating problem after problem for

Damascus, especially with the Israelis.

I mean, the Israelis have attacked the Ministry of Defense in Syria right now. So that's definitely something which will continue to create problems

for Ahmed al-Sharaa.

ANDERSON: Yeah, and Syria's Foreign Ministry saying it holds Israel fully responsible for yesterday's attacks and for one assumes today's attacks

U.S.-Syrian envoy Tom Barrack is said the U.S. was in contact with all sides to quote, navigate towards calm and integration.

Well, we're certainly not seeing calm and integration on the ground, as you and I speak, the pictures coming out of Damascus of the Israeli bombing of

the facilities there. Quite extraordinary. Israel says its operation is about protecting the Druze population.

We've seen these striking visuals of Druze streaming across the border from the Israeli occupied Golan Heights into Syria, reportedly to support their

people. What's the sentiment inside that? What is a minority Druze community in Syria right now? Can you just explain?

MAKKI: Now the Druze are a historic minority in Syria, and they've been one of the most important social factors throughout the history of the country,

and if you remember the Assad regime. So, either was one of the oaths which really devastated the Assad Regime, because it was one area they could not

control.

It was one of the areas really, which kept the revolution flowing and living throughout the worst years when Assad had retaken most of the

country. So, the Druze and Suwayda have always had issues with the Syrian and the Assad regime.

At the moment, these issues have continued with the new Syrian interim government, which is partly because of number one, the fact that there are

lots of extremist groups within this new Syrian military who actually want to come and kind of punish Suwayda for being separatist at the moment.

And you have the Israeli dimension, and the Israeli dimension is really continuing to provoke a lot of the Syrian groups within the military to

really assault Suwayda. Now, what's happened recently is we've seen the Israelis have taken a really strong course to support the Druze cause and

to say that we don't want anyone to be damaged in these Druze areas.

And they're literally, you know, bombing the Syrian Ministry of Defense at the moment. Now, a lot of the people who came in the assault with the

general security and with the Syrian Ministry of Defense had seen a lot of the fellow soldiers killed by Druze militias. So, what we're seeing is a

cycle of blood.

[09:15:00]

I mean, in the country, is really going through another -- yet another cycle of blood, one that has not really got any main you know, end in

sight. There's no light at the end of the tunnel immediately, because there's so much rhetoric on different sides, and you've got the

availability of foreign genders paying.

Now, the Israelis have an agenda. I think the U.S. really want the situation to calm down. I think they're happy with where Syria is as a

government at the moment. But if you look at the situation in Suwayda, I mean, if you're a minority in Syria, watching this.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

MAKKI: Watching these videos of elders being humiliated. This is not something that you would see and really feel safe in the country, you know.

So, we're going to have to see a continuation of this tension until Ahmed al-Sharaa can really get these groups together and be like, look, you

either have citizenship and you protect civilians, or there's no role for the military in the country, if we're just going to repeat the mistakes of

the past.

ANDERSON: Yeah, and you've been covering the bombing of Mar Elias church in Damascus last month that heightened Syrian, Christian fears of course, you

covered the violence against Alawites in Latakia earlier on in the year. And then you speak now to just the enormity of fear and distrust that's

going on at the moment.

Look Al-Sharaa, who is the interim president, has amassed enormous international legitimacy since December when Assad fled, not least from the

Trump Administration. Trump's Syrian Envoy Tom Barrack said yesterday, quote, misdirection, confusion and what he termed as inefficient

communication, is the greatest challenge in assuring a peaceful and thoughtful integration of each party's interest.

We are in direct, active and productive discussions, he said, with all sides to navigate towards calm and integration. I mean, you can see where

the U.S. position is on this. You know, they want to wrap this up. They want to get their arms around this.

They want this to be a safe and stable Syria, but you know, a tweet or an X post like that does seem somewhat naive when you consider what is going on

the ground at present as you describe it. How does Al-Sharaa keep both domestic and international support at this point?

MAKKI: Well, President Al-Sharaa, at the moment, is in a very big predicament, because there are a number of different challenges which he

has to solve to essentially, really end the situation in Suwayda. And you've also got the rest of Syria looking on. You've got the Northeast with

the Kurdish groups, the SDF.

You've got the Syrian Coast, which is now, you know, it's going to be a hub for more rebellion against the government for potentially decades to come,

you know. And you've got other areas in Syria, the Christians, for example, who are looking, you know, over their shoulders at some of the extremist

groups coming out over the last period.

And essentially Syria's social contract is slowly being decimated. Now, Al- Sharaa's main priority is really to focus on the domestic side of affairs, because it's easy to continue playing this out. You know, in the Western

countries. I mean, we saw a statement to Saudi Arabia yesterday.

We saw the Americans are really behind the government, but really Al- Sharaa's main problem is sorting the situation out domestically, and that means reining in some of these extremist groups which are under the

umbrella of the Ministry of Defense, and stopping these atrocities, stopping this violence which really should be left back in the Assad era.

This is a new country. It's a new Syria, and people have to feel part of the country. I mean, if I was in our short position, I would completely

criminalize sectarianism as a first step, because unless you have citizenship, and every Syria is a very diverse country, there is a very

rich mosaic of different ethnicities, cultures, religions.

Now, what's currently happening is a melting -- because you've had people who are in Idlib previously, everyone is now interacting with everyone, and

with that comes a lot of problems, and you need a strong state to literally, you know, lay the law out for everyone.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

MAKKI: And that's including any Druze militias which are outside of the law. And what we need at the moment is strong leadership within the

country, and actual, not just token offers to the minorities, really bring the Druze in and try and find a solution, you know, find a way to deal with

the Israelis and make you know, if the Druze want the Israelis to come in.

Find someone to negotiate with the Israelis, to find a peace agreement for the south of Syria, because it's not in the Syrian government's position to

destabilize themselves, as long as the Israelis want to attack the Ministry of Defense and create bigger problems. Syria is a state which is six months

old.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

MAKKI: Now, what we need is a long-term stability. This won't happen by making rash decisions.

[09:20:00]

So, I would -- if I was Al-Sharaa at the moment, I would take a step back and try and realign the policies, and really find a way to find a ceasefire

immediately, and then take it from there with real steps, rather than just token offers.

ANDERSON: The view of Danny Makki, who is on the ground in Suwayda, just back from Damascus, and some real insight and analysis as to what is going

on as we speak. And before we leave the story, Danny, thank you. Unfolding in Damascus, I want to bring you these pictures just into CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And that was the anchor on Syria TV at the time of the bombing not long ago. We will, of course, continue to cover this story throughout

the two hours of this show. And in the hours to come on CNN, get you the very latest as we have it of course. We are back after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, this evening, Donald Trump will meet with Qatar's Prime Minister at the White House. They are set to discuss ongoing ceasefire

talks between Israel and Hamas that are going on in Doha over a U.S. backed proposal for a temporary 60-day truce in Gaza and phased release of

hostages.

Also likely on the agenda, efforts to restart nuclear talks between Washington and Iran, which have so far stalled over demands about uranium

enrichment. Trump will also meet the Crown Prince of Bahrain in the next few hours. Come join now from the U.S. State Department by Kylie Atwood,

and it's a really important day and two significant figures, not least the Qatari Prime Minister, of course.

And there's no doubt that Syria will be part of this discussion, but also front and center, of course, Gaza and Iran. Qatar mediating on both of

those files. How pivotal are these talks at the White House on getting some action on deals on both of those files?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Becky, these meetings come at this really crucial moment, because we have been covering for some time

now, over the last week, as these talks between Hamas and Israel have been occurring in Doha, there was a hopefulness that they were actually driving

forth towards a ceasefire.

There were talks about Steve Witkoff, President Trump's Special Envoy, going over to Doha late last week, but that never happened. And now sources

on the Israeli side and on the Hamas-side as well are saying effectively, that the talks have stalled, that they aren't nearing a conclusion where

they can actually drive a ceasefire and hostage releases as well.

And so, what the officials are going to try and figure out today at the White House, with President Trump, the Qatari Prime Minister, being a

critical player here, is what can really be done to try and get these talks back on track to drive towards a ceasefire with -- which President Trump

has repeatedly said he wants to see which Prime Minister Netanyahu also said during his last visit to the United States that he was supportive of.

[09:25:00]

But there are questions as these ongoing talks have happened about a number of things. We're told from one Israeli source that there's a key sticking

point over what would happen to the Israeli forces in Gaza, once that ceasefire goes into effect, where they would go. That is just one of the

critical issues that they are facing in those talks that are ongoing. Sorry, Becky --

ANDERSON: -- apologies. What are the hurdles to restarting nuclear talks to your mind at this point?

ATWOOD: Well, when you look at the players who are involved in the nuclear talks, they're actually all similar to the ones who are involved in these

Gaza talks right now. And so, it's the Qataris, it's Steve Witkoff, it's President Trump. All of them are keenly focused on Gaza right now.

And so effectively, when you talk to officials, they say that Gaza is really front and center right now, and then they'll turn back to those Iran

talks. Now there has been quite some time, obviously, that has now passed since those U.S. military strikes against Iran's nuclear program.

So, some officials I've talked to are saying that it's a positive thing, that effectively, things are starting to calm down a little bit. The

tension, the anger from the Iranians might be dissipating a little bit, but that might be rosy eyed perspective. We heard from a top Iranian official

in an op-ed here in U.S. newspapers last week, who effectively said that they would be willing to restart talks.

But they want a guarantee that there wouldn't be military strikes that would be carried out in the future against Iran. That is not a commitment

that the Israelis are willing to make at this point. It's not even a commitment that President Trump is willing to publicly make at this point.

So that is an area for us to watch, but it doesn't appear that the restarting of those talks is coming in the near future in the next coming

days or so.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you. As we witness Israel carrying out fresh strikes on Syria's capital according to state media. Busy times, thank you.

Let's get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now. In Indonesia confirms that it has struck a tariff deal with the United

States.

President Donald Trump, announcing the deal earlier, saying that the U.S. would impose a 19 percent tariff on imports from Indonesia. Well Indonesian

spokesperson told Reuters, the negotiations were an extraordinary struggle. Nominations are out for the best in television and severance on Apple TV

leads the way this year with 27 Emmy nominations, including outstanding drama series.

It is followed by Penguin and the White Lotus, both on HBO Max, which is also by CNN, parent company and Apple TV's the studio. Emmy awards will be

handed out in September. Significant rainfall across the Northeast U.S. caused dangerous flash flooding that impacted subway platforms and trains

across parts of New York this week.

This happened outside a ticket turnstile in lower Manhattan, multiple trains suspended and delayed, leaving passengers stranded. You're watching

"Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson. Still to come a Facebook update, Meta and Amazon are friends, and they are setting their sights on

the world of artificial intelligence. More on that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

ANDERSON: And welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. And you are watching "Connect the World". These are your headlines this hour. And the

Syria capital Damascus has been hit with a series of air strikes. State media blaming Israel and the Israeli Defense Minister shared footage

circulation on social media saying, quote, the painful blows have begun.

Now this follows days of sectarian violence between the Druze community and Bedouin tribes in the south, which drew in the intervention of Syrian

government forces. Israel says it then got involved to protect that Druze community. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is again calling for

more air defenses after a night of heavy Russian attacks.

Ukraine says Russia fired 400 drones and a missile at multiple cities overnight. U.S. President Donald Trump has promised Kyiv patriot defense

systems, but appeared to rule out sending long range missiles. And Mr. Trump will today meet with the Prime Minister of Qatar, with the pair

expected to discuss ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza and efforts to restart nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran.

And markets have just opened in New York a minute or so ago. And let's have a look at the markets. And you see there, they are all in positive

territory. Really there seems to be nothing that's facing investors at this point, a bit of up and down when we get some sort of big tariff threats.

But ultimately, these markets seem to just be moving in a positive direction. And for the big players of Silicon Valley, getting ahead in

artificial intelligence won't just come down to who can build the biggest and most capable models. They also need to get people to use those models,

and that means getting developers to build apps.

Well, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta is now teaming up with Amazon Web Services, or AWS, as it's known, to get more developers on board with its Llama AI

model. CNN Tech Reporter Clare Duffy joins me now live. So just explain what this is all about.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yeah, Becky, this is a sort of quieter but still really crucial front in the AI race. These big language model makers

like Meta want to be the platform of choice for developers to build new Chatbots, AI agents, other AI applications, sort of like how Apple and

Google have been the default platform for building mobile apps during the mobile web era.

And so that is what this partnership between Meta and AWS is all about. They are teaming up to provide support to 30 U.S. startups that would like

to build on Meta's Llama AI model that's going to include six months' worth of hands-on support from engineers from both Meta and AWS, as well as

$200,000 worth of computing credits each from AWS for these startups.

And that piece is really crucial, because the computing power that it takes to build AI applications is really expensive, especially if you're a

startup that isn't yet turning a profit. And of course, AWS will benefit from this program if these startups continue to use its cloud computing

service after the six months.

So potentially a win-win for both Meta and AWS in terms of getting more developers to use their technology, Becky.

ANDERSON: And keep your eyes on AWS, because it really is a fascinating company in the world of sort of AI and cloud computing.

[09:35:00]

It does sound like Meta has made a huge investment to be a top player and to your startups. What's at the heart of this very specific partnership

between the two? I want our viewers have a sense of you know where these companies are at in the big picture?

DUFFY: Yeah, it was talking to somebody within Meta recently who said Mark Zuckerberg wants to win in AI. He really does. He's throwing so many

resources towards being the top player in this space, and that includes multimillion dollar pay packages to lure some of the top AI researchers

away from competitors.

They've recently hired top researchers from OpenAI, from Google, from Anthropic, they really have put together this crack team, and they're

calling it the Meta super intelligence AI team, that also has included a $14 billion investment in the startup scale AI, which meant that Meta got

to hire their CEO and founder and some of their top employees.

And so, Mark Zuckerberg really is trying to put the company in a position to be the leader in this space. And I think it's partly because he has sort

of a chip on his shoulder from the mobile web era. He does not like that Facebook and Instagram have had to pay. Apple and Google when people make

purchases on those platforms.

He doesn't like that Apple and Google have had some control over how his apps get developed, because he's reliant on their platforms to end up on

people's smartphones. So, he really would like to be building the platform and the technology that everybody else is going to be building on top of

for the AI era.

ANDERSON: Yeah, fascinating, isn't it? It's good to have you. Both the share price is up there trading slightly lower against it's got to be said

against the market, which is slightly higher today. Good to have you. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has joined a growing list of Trump loyalists

pushing for more transparency on the Jeffrey Epstein files. Take a listen to just some of those calls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): I do think there needs to be more transparency. I do think that all needs to move forward, and I think the administration needs

to address that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you don't believe what the Justice Department is saying?

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): I don't know. You know, I don't, I don't. I think I don't, I don't, I don't trust him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should put everything out there and let the people decide it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, that may be the view of some Republican members of Congress, U.S. President says he doesn't see why there is so much interest

in all of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I don't understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It's pretty

boring stuff. It's sorted, but it's boring, and I don't understand why it keeps going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, there's been a renewed interest, of course, in the Epstein case, after the Justice Department released a memo last week saying there's

no evidence that the convicted sex offender kept a so-called client list or that he was murdered. At a news conference on Tuesday, the Attorney

General, Pam Bondi said the memo on the investigation, quote speaks for itself, declining to release new documents.

Next hour, we'll take a look at a new angle of what is this political fallout as the issue is raising flags with a certain group of voters,

universe of male comedians, of streamers and right leaning influences. Take a look at how that might impact Mr. Trump, going forward.

That is next hour. Coming up three-time major Winnie, Scottie Scheffler questioning the point of golf ahead of the start of the Open Championship.

More on that is after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: Well, Major League Baseball's All-Star game finished in dramatic fashion with the score tied six after nine innings, the game went to a

first ever home run swing off. The National League was down three to one when Philadelphia Phillies star Kyle Schwarber step to the plate, hitting

three home runs on three swings.

And guess what, he was named, Game MVP. Well, the 29 -- American golfer Scottie Scheffler already boasted a resume many of his rivals can only

dream of. The world number one has claimed an Olympic gold medal, three major titles, including this year's PGA Championship.

Yet, for all his triumphs, Scheffler is openly questioning why even plays the game ahead of the start of the sports fourth and final major of the

year, the Open Championship. Patrick Snell joining me now. I mean, most of us question what we do sometimes, but this guy's, like, right at the top of

his game. What's going on here?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, hi, Becky. It was extraordinary. It was watching yesterday's press conference ahead of the Open Championship,

and he really did open up to reporters. I mean, this is a guy who's won $70 million in PGA tour prize money.

He's won some of the biggest prizes the sport has to offer. He's been -- he's been world number one for 112 consecutive weeks as well. But I think

this is a case of just a change in perspectives for him, he became a father for the first time, Becky, last year, baby Bennett.

Baby Bennett is at most of his big wins, and I think also he's spoken before about how golf isn't top priority his faith, his Christian faith is

very strong, so I think that plays a big part in all of this. But he did certainly come across as someone who still is very hungry to keep on

winning.

But he also said, look, the day that golf sort of takes over and starts coming before family life is the day that he just doesn't want to continue

going down that line. We'll be hearing from him in "World Sport" coming up in just a few moments from right now. But certainly, an extraordinary

insight into the inside mind of one of the world's top players.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

SNELL: Well, the top ranked player in the world, in fact, Becky.

ANDERSON: Absolutely fascinating. Good to have you. That's "World Sport" coming up after the break with Patrick. I'm back in about 15 minutes time

with more of what is our breaking news this hour. Stay with us.

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