Return to Transcripts main page

Connect the World

Trump Requests Release of Grand Jury Documents in Epstein Case; New EU Sanctions on Russia Announced; Former Brazilian President Bolsonaro Ordered to Wear Ankle Tag; "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" to End May 2026; The Coldplay Kisscam Controversy. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired July 18, 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, this is a live look at Suwayda in Syria, where the Syrian President's office says militant groups

are violating shaky ceasefire. Tensions remain amid fears of further escalations. It's 05:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson from our

Middle East Programming Headquarters.

You're watching "Connect the World". And so ahead this hour, the Epstein controversy intensifies after "The Wall Street Journal's" bombshell report

that a note bearing Donald Trump's name with a sketch of a naked woman was given to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday.

U.S. President strongly denying that he wrote the letter. And Christian leaders make a rare visit to Gaza's only Catholic Church, where three

people were killed in an Israeli strike on Thursday. We will explain why that is so significant. Stock market will open in about 30 minutes from

now.

And futures holding their own with the major indexes in New York set to end the week higher, certainly, that's the picture ahead of the Bellmore at

09:30 local time for you. Well, new developments now surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein that files which the U.S. President has tried to play down

the scrutiny fueled by "The Wall Street Journal" reports about a note bearing Donald Trump's name to Epstein back in 2003.

Now the letter reportedly contained a hand drawn outline of a naked woman assigned Happy Birthday and may every day be another wonderful secret.

President Trump has denied the reporting, calls it a fake and is vowing to sue. "The Wall Street Journal", his parent company, News Corp, and Rupert

Murdoch, who controls the journal, Fox News and other conservative brands.

The president also telling his Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce quote, any and all pertinent grand jury testimony related to the late convicted

sex offender. Bondi saying she is ready to ask a judge to unseal the grand jury transcripts as early as today. Well, Noel King is a Co-Host and

Editorial Director of the Vox show "Today, Explained", and the Former Host of NPR "Morning Edition" joining us from Washington. It's good to have you

"Today, Explained" will help us. I hope.

NOEL KING, CO-HOST AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR OF THE VOX'S "TODAY, EXPLAINED": I do to.

ANDERSON: Explain what's going on here? Trump strongly denying this.

KING: Strongly denying I mean --

ANDERSON: He is strongly denying this. But regardless it has --

KING: -- we've known for a long time that President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein had a friendship, had a relationship. This is well documented,

right? The confusing thing is, "The Wall Street Journal", you know, comes out with this story, and they say President Trump made a birthday card,

essentially, for Jeffrey Epstein, and it's got a drawing of a naked woman.

Nobody really wants that attached to their name. But the president's response is really extraordinary. He's saying it wasn't me. I don't draw

like that. I don't write like that. And not only that, I'm going to sue "The Wall Street Journal" and sue Rupert Murdoch. So, I think what we're

seeing here is a president who knows that he has a real problem on his hands.

He's trying desperately to do damage control. But I think instead of doing damage control and saying, yeah, look, I knew the guy. We were friends for

many years, so I sent him a birthday card, he's now made it seem doubly suspicious, unfortunately for him, especially considering how suspicious

his base already is.

ANDERSON: This damage control that isn't working and is only making things worse, as you suggested, that's this is very unlike Donald Trump, right?

KING: He seems like he's panicking.

ANDERSON: He's getting out of hand.

KING: Yeah, it seems President Trump always kind of seems like he has things in control. And he always sort of seems like if things are not in

his control, eventually they will be, and everybody who doubted him will be proven to be a fool. Now, one of the reasons that he has that confidence is

this base of people who voted him into office, who tend to support him on just about everything, even if it's different from what he promised when he

was campaigning.

People who like President Trump really like President Trump. This time is a bit different. I was talking to a friend earlier this week who is one of

those longtime Trump supporters. You know, a gentleman in the Midwest, in Ohio, voted for Trump all three times, and he said, I don't believe him.

I don't believe him. He's covering something up on Epstein. And I will tell you that is anecdata, right? That's not data. It's one person's story. But

that really shocked me, because I am very, very unaccustomed to hearing people who like President Trump say, I don't believe him. I think he's

hiding something from us.

[09:05:00]

ANDERSON: Well, on this, Trump asking Bondi then to produce any pertinent grand jury testimony on Epstein. Of course, there's way more to the story

than that. There are witness interviews, there's videos, there's photographs. Is that likely to cut it for the MAGA world, who are at this

point dead set on pursuing this.

KING: So right there, you just, actually, you defined what the problem with this grand jury testimony is. It is not everything. It is a selection of

things. And apparently the, you know, as we said, President Trump used the word pertinent. Pam Bondi will deliver what she believes to be pertinent.

At this point, people don't believe Pam Bondi. So, she's saying, here's the information that's pertinent, and it is a subset of grand jury testimony,

which itself is a subset of what people believe to be this, you know, big, large Jeffrey Epstein file that includes a client list, which, you know,

Pam Bondi has said exists.

When people hear you're not getting all of it, you're getting a part of a part of it, and the person who decided that the part you're getting is the

AG Pam Bondi, I don't think that's going to satisfy anybody. I think this is just going to gin this whole thing up even further, to be honest with

you, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes, fascinating, isn't it? Look Trump's exact words on this specific reporting that we led with out of "The Wall Street Journal" are

the following, this is not me. This is a fake thing. It's a fake "The Wall Street Journal" story, he said. I never wrote a picture in my life. I guess

people understand what he meant by that.

I don't draw pictures of women. He said, It's not my language. It's not my words. Now, some of the major right wing MAGA personalities who have been

very critical of Trump's handling of this Epstein stuff today, have said that they don't buy that he wrote this letter Laura Loomer a Trump ally

who's broken with him on Epstein saying, quote, it's totally fake.

Everyone who knows President Trump knows he doesn't type letters. He writes notes in big black -- with the big black Sharpie, trust me, I would know.

So, if this is "Wall Street Journal" reporting winning back some key personalities. I guess you could argue that this actually might help Trump

in some way, correct?

KING: It might indeed, because the "Wall Street Journal" is the mainstream media. And, of course, President Trump's base, his MAGA base, they have

been, you know, they have been primed to mistrust the "Wall Street Journal", the "New York Times", CNN, anything mainstream.

If you are a MAGA supporter of President Trump, you're going to say, no, they're lying to us. So, in a way, you're right. This coming from the

journal allows the president to discredit it and say, you know, the journal never liked me, and this is fake. Now, I personally have not seen the

birthday book with the letter in it.

So, I don't know that it's real or not, but I know that Rupert Murdoch is many things, and he is not stupid. I don't know that Rupert Murdoch or Emma

Tucker, the Editor of the "Wall Street Journal", would put something in the "Wall Street Journal" that they believed to not be 100 percent real.

They know a lawsuit is coming. Right the minute President Trump said it, you imagine he had probably even said it to maybe Rupert Murdoch

personally, if you publish this, I'm going to sue you. So, I don't know. I mean, I think the journal is pretty sure it's got the real deal here.

And I think people who trust the journal, I would consider myself, one of them would say, if you print something like this, you probably have it

backed up all the way you know, all the way to knowing the facts.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed for joining us out of Washington, D.C., where the time is just after nine in the morning.

Thanks for being up early for us. Appreciate it. The White House says President Trump has been diagnosed with a vein condition that's common in

older people.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says that he recently saw a doctor after noticing mild swelling in his legs. Let's get you more now from CNN's Chief

Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so we're talking about chronic venous insufficiency. Venous referring to the veins we know,

arteries carry blood away from the heart. Veins return blood back to the heart when there's a problem with the veins, as the president's diagnosis

suggests that means that blood cannot return as easily, and people often develop swelling, swelling around the ankles, and that's what's gotten a

lot of attention lately.

Now I will point out back in April, the president had a physical exam, and there was no mention of venous insufficiency, no mention of swelling at

that time. So now fast forward three months, we know there is a significant problem, and that is really what prompted this exam, this swelling that has

occurred over the past few months.

They looked at his blood, no evidence that there were any problems that should be causing this. They looked for blood clots, which can sometimes

block the veins, making it harder for blood to return through the veins, no evidence of blood clots.

[09:10:00]

They looked at his heart to make sure the heart had good function and that it was pumping blood well through the body. That appears to be the case.

And they did an ultrasound of the legs, and that's how they diagnosed this, again, this chronic venous insufficiency. So that is the diagnosis.

The goal of treatment really is to try and decrease that swelling and move that blood back up through the body, sometimes simply elevating the legs at

night, so sleeping with a couple pillows underneath your ankles and your feet, that can sometimes be helpful, using things like compression socks

that can be helpful as well.

And obviously encouraging the person, in this case, the president, to walk around as much as possible, sitting. That tends to be something that can

make this venous insufficiency worse. So non-life threatening, pretty common problem, especially as you get older. And also, probably has nothing

to do with what we've seen with his hands.

People have noticed bruising on his hands really going back several months, even to February. The doctors commented on this as well, and said,

basically, this looks like it is primarily irritation to his hand, maybe due to lots of handshaking on top of the fact that he takes aspirin as a

blood thinner, those things in combination, could cause that bruising that we see in his hands.

They try to cover that up with makeup, but you can see that bruising on his hand there in those images. Again, common problems, non-life threatening,

but guys, that's a little bit of a sense of what the president's dealing with.

ANDERSON: Sanjay Gupta. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that Israel deeply regrets the strike on Gaza's only Catholic Church. Three

people were killed when the church was hit on Thursday. Netanyahu adding that the incident is under investigation.

Church clerics visiting Gaza for a day to show solidarity, including the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, who said the strike was a direct hit by a

tank. CNN's Nic Robertson following the story, he joins me live today out of London. Nic, talk to us about the significance of this moment and what

it says about concerns with Israel right now?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Look, it shows again the international community and here through the church, through the Greek

patriarch and through the Latin Patriarchate, the Catholic Church their deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, their concern that

holy sites are being hit in Gaza.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, from his early statements about this, saying there was something that he deeply regretted, that this was stray

ammunition, I believe it is how he referenced it, and the very fact today that the Israeli Prime Minister spoke with the pope shows that for the

Israeli leadership.

This is a sensitive issue, because they recognize they're under a huge amount of international pressure, not just from the United States, not just

from European nations, but from all faiths around the world, to bring a peace and ceasefire, a permanent ceasefire, to Gaza.

So, when three people in the church are killed, nine are injured, including the priest who has been there for 30 years and had a personal relationship

with Pope Francis who passed away earlier this year. And Pope Francis used to talk to the parish priest there in Gaza every single day during the war

since October the seventh 2023.

It is an exceptionally sensitive moment on a very sensitive issue, when health officials in Gaza say more than 58,000 people have been killed in

Gaza so far, you know, the IDF said that this was something that's going to be under investigation. But the message very clearly from these two

patriarchs is, stop the killing, get a permanent and complete ceasefire.

A permanent ceasefire being the key word here, and avoid damaging holy sites. The Israeli Prime Minister has said that something that the Israeli

government does, it tries to avoid civilian casualties and tries to avoid damaging holy sites. I don't think anyone in Gaza finds that those kinds of

statements ring true, and these patriarchs visit that doubles down on that global sense of it.

ANDERSON: Nic Robertson is in London for you. Nic, thank you. Our new CNN polling has found that just 23 percent of Americans think that the Israeli

military response to Hamas attacks is fully justified.

[09:15:00]

That's a 27-point drop from October 2023 shortly after the attacks. 27 percent think that the actions are partially justified, while 22 percent

said they weren't justified at all. In October 2023, just 8 percent of people polled thought that Israel's actions were not at all justified.

Well, you're watching, "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson, out of our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi. Still to come,

Syria's President calls for restraint from local militant groups amid a fragile ceasefire in the south of the country.

We're following this developing story for you, and we'll have more after this short break. And some of the toughest sanctions yet imposed on Russia

by the European Union. How this could impact the Kremlin's ability to wage war, that is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, this is Suwayda in Southern Syria, and you see the smoke there rising in the background. Syria's President says militant groups keep

violating a fragile ceasefire. Israel won't rule out further strikes. The Israeli Prime Minister says his country will continue to act as necessary,

claiming Wednesday's attacks on the Syrian capital by Israel were in defense of the Druze Arab minority group from this area of Suwayda.

Well meantime, Syrian forces say they've pulled out of the southern city following interventions this week by the U.S. and other Arab countries

trying to end the violence there. Well, it has been quite the week in this part of Syria. CNN's Ben Wedeman, following this story for us.

And Ben, you've spent years covering Syria. What is it going to take for this fragile ceasefire to hold to your mind?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it appears, Becky, that this fragile ceasefire is actually slowly falling apart. It's

the second one this week, and what we've seen from the early morning is that there are these tribal elements have mobilized in the north and the

west of Suwayda, the city and there are ongoing clashes.

I mean, we've got this video here, which appears to have been shot this morning on the northern outskirts of Suwayda, where you can hear gunfire.

You can hear see smoke in the distance. And we understand from residents of Suwayda, that the situation there is very tense.

Communications have been spotty at best. They haven't had electricity for five days, and it doesn't appear that anybody is able to really bring the

situation under control.

[09:20:00]

The government in Damascus pulled out its forces after those Israeli threats, followed by bombings in the center of Damascus, on the defense

ministry and also on Syrian troops around Suwayda. So, they've pulled out, and appears that we're back to where we started, with these two sides, the

Druze on the one hand, who are actually very divided.

And these tribal elements on the other and what we're seeing is really -- what we saw in Iraq, what we saw in Yugoslavia is that after decades of

dictatorship, suddenly the lid is off, and it's like Pandora's box. All sorts of awful things are coming out in addition to hope, but hope is the

last thing to come out of Pandora's box.

And what we're seeing is this unfettered violence. And this is the third outbreak so far this year. Back in March, there was that spate of killings

on the Syrian coast involving Alawites and Sunnis, where at least 1500 people were killed. In May, you had an outbreak of fighting between these

same elements, the tribal elements and the Druze around 100 people killed.

And so far, this week, we understand at least 500 people have been killed. As far as Israel goes, it doesn't seem that those bombings really made

anything better. And we're hearing even from Tammy Bruce, the spokeswoman for the State Department, is that the United States did not support these

Israeli strikes on targets in Syria. This is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAMMY BRUCE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: I can tell you regarding Israel's intervention and activity, is the United States did not support

recent Israeli strikes. We are engaging diplomatically with Israel and Syria at the highest levels, both to address the present crisis and reach a

lasting agreement between the two sovereign states.

President Trump has outlined his clear vision of a prosperous middle east and stable Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors. Peace among

neighbors, including Israel and Syria, is a critical component of this vision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN And really, this is typical of what we've seen of the United States in the past. They have these grand visions in mind, while on the ground, in

reality, things are simply falling apart. And it doesn't appear that the Americans, the Israelis, or anybody else really has the ability to calm

things down and bring restore some sort of order and peace in Syria at the moment, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah, Ben, thank you for that. And we are showing pictures. We've been showing pictures of the skyline of Suwayda, and you can certainly see

the smoke in the background clearly there is activity going on the horizon. Then we're running other pictures that we've been able to get out of

Damascus, Syria as well.

Thank you very much indeed. We turn to a developing story in Brazil now, where the Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been ordered to

wear an electronic ankle tag. Has been barred from speaking to foreign officials. This comes as Bolsonaro faces a trial over an alleged plot to

overturn the 2022, presidential election.

If found guilty, he could face more than four decades behind bars. He has denied any wrongdoing. Well, let's break down what this means for him and

indeed, for Brazil. CNN's Stefano Pozzebon joining me now live out of Bogota today. Let's just walk through the latest developments in this saga.

What comes next in the trial of the former president? Let's start that.

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Becky, what comes next is definitely the verdict. We're hearing from Brasilia, that the verdict could

come at any time. We were expecting in the last few days, that it could come maybe late of August or early September.

It's a trial at the Supreme Court of Brazil, and the judges need to determine whether Bolsonaro was complicit in masterminding that failed coup

d'etat against the current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, back in 2023. Clearly what happened this morning?

What is still happening? Because we are talking here of breaking news developing in front of our eyes. It's an escalation, and maybe the sign

that the judges can reach the verdict even sooner. And on top of all of these, it's worth noting that there is the big shadow of Donald Trump, the

U.S. President who is a close ally of Bolsonaro and who has threatened a 50 percent commercial tariff against Brazil in retaliation for this trial,

which is called unfair.

The similarities between the two of them are striking. Both have claimed that they didn't lose an election. Both have incited their supporters.

Allegedly incited their supporters to storm the capital the coup tent, Becky, in the riots in the capital, in the U.S., were in January 6, 2022

ones in Brasilia, were on January 8, 2023, literally 367 days later.

[09:25:00]

And among the provisions against Bolsonaro issued this morning by the Supreme Court is the prohibition to speak with his son, Eduardo, who is

currently in the United States and lobbying the White House to try and take even stronger action against the trial. And so, you see that this is a

clash that puts the two largest democracies in the Western Hemispheres at odds with each other, and you can only imagine it will escalate even

further if, indeed, Bolsonaro is found guilty in the next few weeks, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. Well, we'll keep an eye on that. Thank you very much indeed. The EU has approved some of its harshest sanctions yet against

Russia since the start of the war with Ukraine, the measures focus in large part on Russian oil, one of the Kremlin's main sources of income, of

course, used to finance its war effort.

The EU has banned operations the Nord Stream pipelines, a pair of natural gas lines running under the Baltic Sea. The sanctions also impose a lower

cap on Russian oil and target over 100 shadow fleet ships, as they're known, used to dodge international sanctions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed the move, calling it essential and timely in the midst of increasingly brutal Russian attacks.

Well, coming up, one of President Trump's most vocal critics is being taken off the air. We'll take a look at why the broadcasting company says it is

canceling this show.

Plus, we'll head to Wall Street for the market open off the back of yesterday's record highs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You are watching "Connect the World". Time here is just before half past five, which means

it's just before half past nine in the States, 09:30 of course, is the opening bell. We're about 30 seconds off that the S&P and NASDAQ coming off

fresh records on Thursday, after better than expected. Economic data showing retail sales rose more than expected.

[09:30:00]

That data helping fuel positive sentiment, despite uncertainty over whether U.S. President Trump, will fire the Fed Chair, Jerome Powell. He's not

responded to a letter from the Trump Administration criticizing the cost of renovation at the fed, seemingly as a pretext to fire him. This is the bell

on Wall Street. It's just to close out my thought on the Fed Chair.

He's said himself that the fed has taken great care to ensure the project was carefully overseen. His response closely, mirroring a post on the fed's

website last week. Well, that furor around the Fed Chief, we know how Donald Trump feels about him, and it has been, you know, an issue for

investors, but not one that has kept these markets from getting out the gate, once again in positive territory today.

If they stay in positive territory, we will see weekly gains for these U.S. indices once again. So, keep your eyes on those early 45 seconds on the

open at this point. So, a lot can change in one trading day. American broadcaster CBS canceling one of the most popular shows on television in

the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST OF "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": The network will be ending the "Late Show" in May. And -- yeah, I share your feelings.

It's not just the end of our show, but it's the end of the "Late Show" on CBS. I'm not being replaced. This is all just going away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And that was no joke. "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" will end in May of next year. Colbert has hosted that show since 2015 and is one

of the fiercest critics of U.S. President Donald Trump on television. Now, the network says the decision is solely financial and not related in any

way to the show's performance, its content, or other matters at parent company Paramount.

And keep that in mind, because that's important. CNN Media Correspondent Hadas Gold is set live in New York. And as I understand it, Donald Trump

himself has just posted on this decision by CBS, what's he said?

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so President Trump is, as you might expect, celebrating this decision. Stephen Colbert has been one of

his fiercest critics now for years. Trump posting on Truth Social. I absolutely love that Colbert's got fired. His talent was even less than his

ratings.

I hear Jimmy Kimmel, who is with ABC is next, has even less talent than Colbert. Greg Gutfeld, who is a Fox News host, is better than all of them

combined, including the Moron on NBC, Jimmy Fallon, who ruined the once great tonight show. I should also note that Kimmel, Fallon, Colbert, often

support one another.

Kimmel has already posted on social media in support of Stephen Colbert and what he is going through. This was really a shock announcement, because

Colbert is the number one rated show in his hour. And even though CBS is claiming that this is in no way connected to what is going on writ large,

as you noted, Paramount is CBS's parent company.

And Paramount is currently trying to make a massive $8 billion merger with Skydance, and that merger needs approval from the Trump Administration to

go through. If you remember, just a few weeks ago, CBS settled a lawsuit that most legal scholars said was completely bogus, that President Trump

brought against the network for how they edited an interview with Vice President then Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris, saying that it made

her look better.

CBS settled that for $16 million and Trump has even alluded that there could be more value that will later be added in the form of potentially

public service announcements or the like. And Stephen Colbert himself called that settlement a big fat bribe just a few days ago, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah. Well, let's have a listen to Stephen Colbert himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLBERT: Now I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles. It's big

fat bribe, because this all comes as Paramount owners are trying to get the Trump Administration to approve the sale of our network to a new owner,

Skydance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, Hadas calling the settlement as bribery and adding quote, America deserves to know if his

show was canceled for political reasons. From what you're seeing and hearing, is there merit to this claim of cowing to Trump, is CBS about to

have major backlash to contend with here?

I guess those are two different points. They perhaps ought not to be. But in 2025, they probably are. Your thoughts.

[09:35:00]

GOLD: Yeah, well, Senator Warren is actually not the only member of Congress calling for an investigation Senator Schiff who by coincidence

happened to be a guest on Colbert show the night he announced it was canceled, has also announced that he'd like an investigation.

Look, there are two storylines here, as you noted, the one is just the economics of the current entertainment television landscape. There is no

question, of course, the money isn't where isn't there like it used to be. The money for late night isn't how it used to be. And in fact, my colleague

Brian Stelter reporting that the Colbert show is not profitable anymore.

That's according to sources that he has spoken to. But then look at the ratings still. As you see there, Colbert is still the ratings leader, and

he is 2.4 million compared to ABC and NBC's Kimmel and Fallon. I should note, Fox News has its own sort of late-night comedy show.

It blows these ratings out of the water. That's a whole other issue. Now, people are cutting the core. They're watching streamers and the like. But

what's interesting is Stephen Colbert wasn't even given the chance. It seemed to maybe go down to a few nights a week. Maybe cut the size of his

200 person staff, maybe move theaters. It was just a complete cutting off the head. You're done goodbye --

ANDERSON: All right. Hadas in the House, not sure what happened there. Seemed to have lost your mic. Hadas anyway, thank you. Let's get you up to

speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now. And another big win, legislative win, at least for U.S. President Donald Trump,

he is poised to sign $9 billion in DOGE spending cuts into law, after House Republicans pushed that through Congress earlier today.

Among other things, the package strips billions of dollars away from foreign aid funding and from public broadcasting. President Trump set to

sign a cryptocurrency bill into law tomorrow, after overcoming concerns from several House Republicans who spoke about this earlier this week.

The groundbreaking bill aims to regulate stable coins, which are meant to fluctuate less than other digital currencies. Well, a new ChatGPT update

now allows the chatbot to think and act for you. OpenAI gave an example of the chatbot helping to prepare for a wedding, including outfits in the

hotels, while high risk actions such as bank transfers will be limited.

OpenAI hopes, instead of manually searching the web users will eventually be able to rely on agents to do it all. Agentic AI, and you're likely to

hear a lot more about that in the future. Still to come, reaching the semifinals of the women's euros did not come easy. Sweden up over England,

but by two goals, with time running out, it all ended in nail biting fashion. "World Sport" with the details up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, there is a story circulating online and on social that you may have seen already.

[09:40:00]

I'm referring to the now infamous kiss cam moment at a Coldplay concert recently. Let me show you one angle of that viral moment. If you haven't

seen this story online already, you'll notice that the perspective we just showed you did not include the image of the apparently embarrassed couple

that Chris Martin was talking about.

We are not showing that couple, but you can, of course, see them everywhere online, as CNN has not confirmed their identity, and therefore we are

proceeding with caution for legal and ethical reasons. But the unstoppable fact is that the force that is social media adheres to no such

consideration.

Social media is the platform by which two individual human beings with families' jobs, who make choices and mistakes, it seems in this case, can

instantly become means. Well, England versus Sweden, with women's euros semis on the line, the reigning champs fought back after Sweden went up

two-nil to force the game into extra time, then an astounding penalty shoot-out that featured 14 attempts.

That's a nail bite, isn't it? Right until the end, it will see tale of two halves, Sweden dominating the first half, and England the second. Well

England on the brink of elimination from the Euros, did what champions do, and they fought and clawed their way back to victory. Patrick Snell has

details for you. That was a -- well, that was quite something to watch.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Becky, it certainly -- And I think it's fair to say that England's lionesses must be feeling their name is on the

trophy again, because, by rights, they should not have advanced to face Italy next on Tuesday. But you know, football doesn't work like that.

You know, Sweden will feel they should have absolutely won this match. There's no question about that. England could have lost the penalty

shootout. I was calculating they could have lost it three times. But at the end of the day, if you don't convert your chances, and this is why

football, it can be a beautiful game, Becky, as you well know, but it can be so cruel, and my heart does go out to the young Swedish player who

missed right at the end there.

Smilla Holmberg, just 18 years of age, she smashed one over the crossbar. But she wasn't the only one, I will say, for a country, because Sweden's

goalkeepers well, Jennifer Falk also took one and put it over the top as well. We'll break it all down for you. How England came back from two-nil

down in regulation.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

SNELL: It's a really powerful storyline, and I know a lot of England fans are very happy today and relieved as well. I will say Becky, back to you.

"World Sport" just ahead.

ANDERSON: And I think the Swedes will say that they were robbed, as we --

SNELL: For sure.

ANDERSON: -- football parlance. More from Patrick after this short break --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

[10:00:00]

END