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Iranian Foreign Minister Meets Chinese Counterpart in Beijing; Iran Asserts Control Over Strait of Hormuz with New Website; New Israeli Strikes Reported Across Southern Lebanon; Hezbollah Claims 18 Attacks on Israeli Forces in Past Day; Political Row Over Cruise Ship with Hantavirus Outbreak. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired May 06, 2026 - 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, as we look at live pictures from D.C. and of the Strait of Hormuz, a new post from the U.S.

President lays out the possibilities either Operation Epic Fury ends and Iran agrees to open the strait or the hot war could reignite.

It is 09:00 a.m. in Washington. It is 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson from our Middle East programming headquarters you are

watching "Connect the World". Well, the stock market opens in New York about 30 minutes from now. And we are looking at a positive start for the

trading day this Wednesday, after 2.5 months of war, investors certainly betting that things may be looking up.

Well, we start with what could be steps in diplomacy to end the U.S.-Iran war. Axios reporting that the two countries are moving close to an

agreement in principle that contains provisions tied to Iran's nuclear program. This after U.S. President Donald Trump paused the days old Project

Freedom, a naval effort aimed at guiding commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

And U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio declared Operation Epic Fury, the military campaign against Iran over. Well, look, there's an awful lot to

unpack here. We've got Kevin Liptak at the White House, Nic Robertson in Islamabad, where, of course, Pakistani mediators have been working to get a

peace deal inked.

And I want to start there, Nic, we've heard this level of optimism before. So, let's sort of break down what we understand, what we know and what we

might hope for going forward.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah. We've heard optimism before, and it's very easily fallen away, and very quickly fallen

away. I mean, what we understand is that there is going to be or an effort to get a very, very simple agreement.

Memorandum of understanding is a good way to describe it. This is something that will have very, very few sentences in it. It's something that's

designed to allow both sides to get to a position. If they can agree on this, then they might be able to agree to get back around the table and

talk face to face.

And the aspiration is that if you can talk face to face, then you don't face some of the same pressures that you might do trying to pull together a

much more complicated and burden text that could pull, sort of hard liners in, hawks on all sides into sort of try to create a language that then

becomes not workable for one side, not workable for the other backwards and forwards, and you never progress.

So, this is a real effort to strip everything back. My understanding of it is, you know, it can be as short as perhaps three or four points, and that

there would be a commitment coming from the Pakistan side to talk about the thornier issues, to talk about the nuclear issue, but, and I think it's

important to say the understanding we have here, at least right now, is that that's not going to get into specificity of detail, because that,

again, pulls in caveats and lines from both sides.

We know Iran's entrenched position. We know what President Trump wants to get, but if you want to get the two sides in a room, which, of course, the

mediators believe that's the best way to move forward. So, I think that's an understanding of where we are. But to your point that we've been here

before, there's been optimism like this before.

I just tell you what Pakistan's Prime Minister said earlier today. He said this, I'm grateful to President Trump for his courageous leadership and

timely announcement regarding the pause in Project Freedom in the Strait of Hormuz. And he then goes on to say, we are very hopeful that the current

momentum will lend to a lasting agreement that secures durable peace and stability in the region and beyond.

OK, big aspirations, right? He also mentioned the fact that this request to President Trump, but also involved Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in

Saudi Arabia. Of course, Saudi and Pakistan have been very, very close on this sort of mediation effort. But again, I think the momentum that we had

in the early part of the day, and late last night was that epic fury was over, that the freedom, Project Freedom had been put on pause, and that

created a space.

[09:05:00]

But I think potentially here again, there are many ways that this can derail, but the language that President Trump has just used in his Truth

Social post. Which talks about the potential for return to war, while welcomed by some, it's probably not going to be appealing to the hard

liners in Tehran.

And we've seen before that President Trump's language, where he tries to appeal to a constituency or the gains that he thinks he's got has derailed.

We saw this during that moment where Iran had come out of sort of a previous round of discussions with the United States through the mediators.

And President Trump thought he had agreement on the nuclear issues, that Iran would do certain things, and he went big time public with that, we got

push back on the -- there was push back on the Iranian side. So, it's very easy to see how this, sort of in the morning, you can be hopeful.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

ROBERTSON: And in the afternoon, you can see how it can potentially go off the rails again.

ANDERSON: Kevin, let me bring you in. There's no surprise that Trump's critics in the U.S. and indeed around the world are frankly accusing him of

another flip flop, of blinking first. What's the argument there from the White House?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. And, you know, I think when you heard Marco Rubio come out and say yesterday that the

conflict was over, it was very definitive. No, President Trump seems to be suggesting something else this morning on Truth Social.

I think the bottom line is that the president is trying to put this war in the rear-view mirror, whether it's through some sort of memorandum that

brings the war to an end, or whether it's through, I guess, some sort of definitive bombing campaign that would end it for good.

He seems very much over the entire conflict, you know, he's clearly facing a lot of pressure here, whether it's politically, you know, with higher gas

prices, very unpopular conflict, whether it's the congressional angle. You know, a number of lawmakers, Republicans, including are beginning to

agitate about this war powers deadline that the White House blew through last week.

And you also have his trip to China next week with Xi Jinping. You remember he delayed it when the war was raging, with the hopes that it was

rescheduled for next week that the war would be over. And so there are all these data points that I think, suggest the president is very much looking

for this to be finished.

But when Marco Rubio says that all of the objectives have been achieved, you know that stretches the bounds of rhetoric, even by the basis of this

own White House, which is, it's been hard to detect a strategy in this war. But when he says that all the objectives have been fulfilled, you know, the

nuclear program, which was the sensible reason for this conflict in the first place, doesn't seem to have been touched at all.

That's going to be the basis for these negotiations going forward. That Nic was describing, that was one of the objectives of the conflict. So too, the

missile program. That was, I think, one of the main reasons that the U.S. laid out as its rationale for the war we've just seen over the last two

days, that it remains at least somewhat intact.

You know, Iran still has the ability to fire at its neighbors. And so, you're seeing, I think, a lot of stretching of rhetoric and stretching of

the facts in terms of how this conflict has proceeded. But I think the one reality that's, I think true in public, but also you hear it behind the

scenes as well, is that the president is ready to move on.

And if this memorandum is what allows him to do that, then it seems pretty evident that he will sign on to that and latch on to that. I do think it's

somewhat confusing. What he posted on Truth Social he says, quote, assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to. I don't know what that means

frankly.

He's saying that Iran has already agreed to something, but he's not sure if they've actually agreed to it. So, I think a lot of uncertainty around this

negotiating proposal and around the status of these discussions. And it does seem as if there is some forward momentum, but it's hard to tell, I

think, at this point, whether that is all sort of a creation of the White House, or whether we're actually seeing some real movement on the ground.

ANDERSON: I do think, Nic, it's worth talking about the emerging role, or the seemingly emerging role, of Beijing as a sort of key mediator in all of

this. Iran's Foreign Minister made a notable trip there this week that is ahead of Donald Trump's visit next week. Does this change the calculus at

all for that Trump, Xi Jinping meeting mid-May.

ROBERTSON: As much as when President Trump goes into this meeting, he's either sorted out the worst of the sort of direction drift of the problem

here, or he hasn't. And if he goes in and he hasn't, and he sits down in front of Xi Jinping with this massive problem hanging over his shoulder,

not just a war about to erupt again, but the whole economic problem and the political ramifications for him at home, if he goes in with that, it looks

weak.

[09:10:00]

Look, China has played, as we know, a very significant role in trying to sort of rebuild, going back to 2023 here March 2023 trying to sort of

rebuild Iran's sort of being brought back into the bosom, if you will, of its Gulf Arab neighbors helping broker that rapprochement with Saudi

Arabia, which was really until October the seventh and Hamas' attack in Israel, very much sort of moving forward.

They were sort of exchanging sports stars, big soccer stars on European soccer stars and Saudi teams are going to Iran, things were looking up. So,

China has history on this, and it has skin in the game, because it relies on oil getting out of the Strait of Hormuz like so many other countries in

Asia, look, it's got other resources.

It can turn to, perhaps less dependent than some, but it's got skin in the game. And I think the messaging between Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian Foreign

Minister and Wang Yi, the Foreign Affairs Chief, Premier in China, has, you know, they seem to speak the same language about wanting stability in the

Strait of Hormuz wanting the freedom of movement in the Strait of Hormuz, yeah, China skin in the game vested interest history at trying to sort out

difficulties here.

ANDERSON: Good to have you both. Thank you. Well, as Nic was reporting, Iran's top diplomat then is in China and insists his country is serious and

steadfast in diplomacy. CNN's Steven Jiang has more from Beijing.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: The timing is obviously very interesting for this meeting between the two countries, two foreign

ministers their first face to face communication since the war broke out. And more importantly, though, this meeting took place just one week before

Donald Trump is due here for that high stake summit with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping, already delayed once because of this very war.

Now, in their readout after the meeting, the Chinese didn't say anything surprising. They really highlighted the so called four-point peace proposal

put out by Xi Jinping a little while ago, emphasizing the importance of sovereignty and international law and more immediately, calling for a

lasting ceasefire. The conventional wisdom here, of course, is anytime the U.S. is mired in a quagmire, the Chinese manifest strategically.

And the Chinese also continue to buy Iranian oil despite U.S. sanctions and really giving the Tehran regime an economic lifeline. But analysts agree

the Chinese priorities are more practical, even though they are trying to strike a balance and playing a long game here, because the Chinese economy

does need reliable access to energy to fuel growth at home.

But also, more importantly, a stable global market for its exports. So, a prolonged war would hurt them on both fronts, that's what in their readout,

they made a point of calling on all relevant parties to address this global concern of the reopening, resumption of safe and normal passage through the

Strait of Hormuz.

And the other thing, of course, is the Chinese did play a role in bringing the currencies fire, but they may not be any in any hurry to ramp up

pressure on the Iranians, because, one, they are better prepared to deal with any oil shocks than anyone else, because of their stockpile and their

pivot to green energies.

And also, they may want to wait for an in person ask from President Trump so they could actually play up this potential positive result from the

Trump, Xi summit. Now the other thing a lot of analysts have said, of course, is this war is actually helping amplify reinforce Beijing's global

messaging about it being a cornerstone of global stability and innovation, in sharp contrast to Washington.

So, in the words of one analyst who talked to us, the U.S. is fighting without winning, and China is winning without fighting. Steven Jiang, CNN,

Beijing.

ANDERSON: Well, we're joined now by Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East Correspondent for The Economist. And Greg, I do want to talk to you about

the significance of be the Beijing dateline in all of this, and President Trump's upcoming trip there in mid-May, before we do that, you've just

posted, God grant me the optimism of an oil trader reading headlines about a vague bullet point MOU.

Well, as counter intuitive as it might seem, the U.S. markets are looking pretty good today, as oil prices are lower on this news, eternal optimism,

it seems, is the story of the oil trader these days, is it not?

GREGG CARLSTROM, MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT FOR THE ECONOMIST: It's the story of the oil trader. I'm not sure it's the story of the diplomat here

in the region.

[09:15:00]

I mean, step back a bit to the ceasefire that was announced on April 8th, almost a month ago. That was a two-week ceasefire. It was meant to buy time

for negotiations on a 10-point proposal that the Iranians had put forth. Now, there have been talks. There have been messages exchanged.

They've made, it seems, a bit of progress towards a deal. They seem to be converging on the idea of a time bound moratorium on uranium enrichment in

Iran, for example, which would be a compromise between the American and the Iranian position. But there's still a lot that is unresolved here.

And so, what are we hearing about now? In this Axios report and elsewhere, we're hearing about a 14-point memorandum, again, a very brief agreement,

and then 30 days of talks. So, the ceasefire was an agreement to keep talking about an agreement. This is again an agreement to keep talking

about an agreement.

At some point you need to actually start working out the details of that agreement. And until you do that, I don't think you're going to get oil and

gas and other commodities flowing back out of this region again.

ANDERSON: Yeah, and that is a really, really important point. And the Trump Administration clearly, you know, has got one eye on the oil market. It's a

very, you know, keen eye on the oil markets, because, of course, the price of gas at the pump is really important to the U.S. consumer.

But it does feel as if, to a degree, the U.S. Administration is trying to sort of get beyond where we are at this point and get something on paper at

least. You've called Trump's pause on Operation Freedom in the Strait of Hormuz, which was only announced, what 48 hours or so ago, a special thing

called a mayo edition of taco Tuesday.

Donald Trump referenced Pakistan's request, and we have seen Prime Minister Sharif publicly. Thank Trump for the pause. Could this particular course

correction not just be the result of very active and progressive behind the scenes diplomacy.

CARLSTROM: It could be. I mean, I think it's undeniable that the announcement of Project Freedom, as he called it, was seen as by the

Iranians, seen as an impediment to further diplomacy, and that's how the Pakistanis saw it as well, because what happened after that?

We saw Iran violate the ceasefire by attacking commercial ships in the Gulf and then attacking the UAE directly starting a fire at the oil terminal in

Fujairah. And so, it seemed as if we were heading towards a total breakdown of the ceasefire. And I think there was an expectation in the Emirates and

in other countries in the Gulf that perhaps America was going to retaliate for these attacks on the UAE.

There was certainly pressure behind the scenes for that, and so that would have put us at a point where this all fell apart and diplomacy would have

been completely derailed.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

CARLSTROM: So yes, I think some of the incentive here for Trump to backtrack was related to diplomacy, and some of it may have just been

related to the fact that this was never going to unlock the straits.

This idea of trying to guide commercial ships through to tell them which way would help them avoid Iranian mines, it wasn't going to erase the

feeling of danger that many shippers and sailors feel in the Persian Gulf and in the Strait of Hormuz, as long as they think it's not safe to

transit.

Doesn't matter how many American warships are waiting on the other side of the strait, they're not going to do it.

ANDERSON: What role is China playing here, and how important is this Donald Trump trip of May 14th to Beijing at this point, do you believe?

CARLSTROM: I think the Iranians would like China to play a larger role? I think the foreign minister visiting Beijing right now, there's a few

reasons for doing that. One is just to show that Iran still has a relationship with China, that despite the war, Araghchi is still welcome in

Beijing.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

CARLSTROM: I think another reason is Iran would like China to serve as a guarantor for any final agreement. They think, whether it is playing a role

in perhaps inspecting nuclear facilities in Iran, whether it is signing on as a guarantor that the U.S. will not conduct another round of strikes on

Iran.

They would like China to play a significant diplomatic role, but I think what we've seen in years past is that whenever there's an expectation of

China playing a bigger role in Middle Eastern diplomacy, what they actually do tends to under deliver. So yes, they did help to broker that Saudi, Iran

detente a few years ago, but they stepped in quite late in the process.

Much of the work was done elsewhere. China pushed it over the line at the end, similarly, with getting to the ceasefire in April, much of that was

done by Pakistan, by Egypt, by Turkey. China did give Iran a nudge at the end of it, but they weren't a central. Actor in that diplomacy.

[09:20:00]

And I wonder if we're going to see the same thing here, where, yes, they can apply some pressure on the Iranians. Yes, Donald Trump does not want to

upstage his big meeting with Xi Jinping in 10 days' time by having another round of fighting. So, there is a role for China there. But will they sign

on as a guarantor?

Will they actually be able to guarantee that America won't go to war in Iran again? I don't know if they can guarantee that, and I don't know if

they want to be put in that position.

ANDERSON: Well, as Donald Trump and his administration weaves a winning narrative here. And frankly, you know that feels like through what we're

watching here, where would you know, a loose framework for some sort of deal, leave the Gulf states, where you and I are based.

CARLSTROM: It would leave them in, I think, a very uncomfortable position for a few reasons. The first is, if you reach a framework that doesn't

necessarily mean the Strait of Hormuz is open immediately, the way this is being described, it would gradually reopen over a period of one month, but

then even after that month, there's no guarantee that the negotiations won't collapse and there won't be yet another round of fighting.

So will oil companies want to fix their damage in infrastructure and resume production. Will shippers want to come back to the Gulf knowing there's

still a risk of another round of conflict and vessels getting stranded here? I don't know if they'll want to do those things.

Which means a lot of oil and gas production is going to remain offline, which means a lot of revenue for these countries is going to remain

inaccessible. That's one concern. And then I think the other big concern is, what will America pay for this deal? If Iran does agree to a moratorium

on enrichment, if it does agree to send its near weapons grade uranium outside of the country, how much sanctions relief will it get in return?

Is America going to go further, for example, than Barack Obama did under the JCPOA a decade ago. If that happens, if Iran comes out of this with

essentially the same regime in power, an unreformed version of that regime, and suddenly released from American sanctions with billions of dollars in

frozen revenue pouring back in.

I think that's going to make a lot of Gulf countries uncomfortable, because that is a lifeline for the regime. That is money it can use to rebuild its

military capabilities, and those are capabilities that it can continue to use to threaten its neighbors in the Gulf.

ANDERSON: Always good to have you, Gregg, your insight and analysis always valuable. Thank you very much indeed. Gregg Carlstrom, of The Economist for

you. Well, the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is looking increasingly fragile. New Israeli strikes have been reported after

evacuation warnings for nearly a dozen towns across Southern Lebanon.

And Hezbollah, the Iran backed militant group based in Lebanon, claims that it has launched 18 separate attacks on Israeli forces in the past day. That

is the most since this ceasefire began last month. My colleague, CNN's Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem for you. So, Oren, more Israeli strikes in

Lebanon, more Hezbollah attacks on Israeli forces.

What are you hearing at this point about what this may mean for what is a very fragile ceasefire, effectively?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Becky, there are two separate things happening here, and they seem almost entirely disconnected from each

other. One is an open and escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. And on the side of that, there is an attempt to get diplomacy on track

between Israel and the Lebanese government.

The Israeli military announced a short time ago that they're carrying out strikes across what they described as several areas in Southern Lebanon.

They say they're going after Hezbollah infrastructure, but according to Lebanese state media, a strike in the town of Zelaya, which is not in

Southern Lebanon, it's in the Beqaa Valley, killed a mayor and his family.

Lebanese state media say that six people have been killed in Israeli strikes today, and that means that, according to state media, more than

2700 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon since this war began some two months ago. At the same time, Hezbollah has kept up its pace

of attacks, a number of rocket and drone attacks this morning, according to the Israeli military, as well as two soldiers lightly injured.

On top of, as you pointed out, 18 claims of attacks over the past 24 hours. So, this is very much an open conflict. Israel might not be striking

Beirut. It is, according to the reports from Lebanon, striking the Beqaa Valley. But this is very much an open conflict, and frankly, borderline,

just an open war.

At the same time, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has said there are efforts to get a third round of diplomatic talks between ambassadors under way in

Washington, but that is unlikely to stop the war itself and to stop the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Those essentially, Becky, are talks

about talks, and there is no expectation they lead to an immediate or lasting ceasefire.

[09:25:00]

ANDERSON: Good to have you. Thank you very much indeed, and we will stay on this story. It is a really important one. Thank you. Well, still to come on

"Connect the World", fear and anxiety on board a cruise ship with a deadly hantavirus outbreak, while a Spanish lawmaker says no to the vessel docking

at the Canary Islands.

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ANDERSON: Three people have been evacuated from a stricken cruise ship, but the rest of the passengers are stuck on board amid a hantavirus outbreak

with no clear plan to dock or disembark. CNN's Pau Mosquera is in Madrid, in Spain. This ship, Pau, was headed for the Canary Islands.

There is, though, serious push back by authorities, as I understand it. On that plan, what's going on?

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's it, Becky, because the situation has created some tensions between the regional government of the Canary

Islands and the Spanish government, mainly because, from the islands, they say that they have not been informed or consulted on the matter, and they

also believe that the decision follows doesn't follow any technical or health related criteria.

Now, from the Spanish government side, they denied this allegation, saying that they have always kept them informed, and also stressed that they

decided to go on with this after receiving the official request from the World Health Organization yesterday in the afternoon, and that they will

carry it out because they want to comply with the international law and also show some humanitarian spirit.

So having this said, Becky, the plan will just move forward despite the differences, and the ship cruise is expected to start the sail toward the

south of Tenerife in the forthcoming hours. Now, we know from the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, that port authority from Santa

Cruz of Tenerife has already received a request for the ship to dock this Saturday.

And the Minister of Health, Monica Garcia, just a few minutes ago, confirmed that the port that has been chosen for the ship to dock will be

Granadilla de Abona. And the reason to choose this port is because it's just 10 meters away from the south of Tenerife airport.

So, we'll help to make the transfer of the passengers and the crew on board to the different locations. Now there are people on board of 23 different

nationalities, 14 of the passengers and crew out are from Spain. What is going to happen with them? Well, have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONICA GARCIA, SPANISH HEALTH MINISTER: What is happening with the Spaniards currently on board. The Spaniards on board who, as I mentioned,

consist of 13 passengers and one crew member will be evaluated.

[09:30:00]

They'll be examined upon their arrival on the islands and will be transported by military aircraft to the Torrejon military base and from

there to the Gomez Ulla military hospital in Madrid. There they'll receive care, undergo examination and remain in quarantine for whatever duration is

deemed necessary in accordance with clinical protocols.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: OK, well, that is the wrap on that report. We are going to get you to Wall Street, where the bell is just rung. More on the start of

trading after this.

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ANDERSON: Let's see how stocks are getting on, on the open this Wednesday, and this is the story. And let's get you a look at the oil prices, or

certainly the numbers that we are watching most closely this hour. Oil back at these levels now, look, these are not significant numbers, given where

we have been of late.

But these prices still somewhat 30 percent higher than they were 2.5 months ago, before the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. I want to talk

about that with our next guest, Rana Foroohar is Global Business Columnist and Associate Editor with the FT. Let's just bring up those stock markets

again.

Would you believe it? We are at or close to all-time highs. And guess what? We are also relatively close to record highs on oil. I mean, not, you know,

not as close as we were. We may or may not have ended this war. Certainly, the global impact of this war is swinging and at present, it seems getting

worse.

None of this makes sense. Rana, can you make some sense of it?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Becky, I love your framing. You know, I've been saying the same thing to myself, really, you know, for

years now, since the war in Ukraine, since COVID. I mean, we have been seeing since the U.S., China trade war, really, we've been seeing all these

choke points, all these episodes that geopolitical episodes, geo economic episodes that remind us that resiliency matters.

And we have a system that has been built over the last 50 years, really to be just in time to, you know, to work really well and really cheaply, as

long as everything is working.

[09:35:00]

But when something doesn't work, the dominoes can fall very quickly. And one of the things that has been very surprising to me about the current

market response to Iran, which I agree with you, is going to get worse, even if we see some kind of a peace deal signed before it gets better,

because of the nature of supply chains, which are delayed and different around the world, given that, why are stocks so high?

You know, I think, frankly, it takes several blows to the markets before they start to realize that we are in a new era of geopolitical risk. You

know, a lot of traders, I will say, came of age at a time when they don't remember systemically high interest rates. They don't remember times, you

know, from the 70s when wars mattered and supply shocks on oil mattered and they could change the outlook for a decade or more.

I think we are still in the process of making that turn in the market consciousness. Now, that said, there are also other stories. The big tech

story is boying markets in the U.S., no question about it. The fact that earnings came in really, pretty good last week, that we're starting to see

some of the productivity gains really being reflected in AI.

That's something that traders are still saying, Yeah, as long as the we have a sense that the earnings per share are going to increase over time.

We're going to ignore oil for now.

ANDERSON: You wrote a recent column which focused in part on how some Trump voters are becoming disillusioned with the president, and I'm parking what

we've just been talking about, but I want to bring it back, because it's all part the same thing, you wrote in that piece, quote, Trump came into

his second term promising a richer America, a healthier America, a more devout America, cheaper prices and no more foreign wars.

So far, so bad, you say. Mr. Trump is a business man at heart. He is not going to -- he's going to weave a winning narrative out this whatever

happens. What do you think his motivations are here at this point? And to bring this back to where we started, these U.S. markets are record highs

for many on Main Street.

I know that. You know, gas prices are high. You know the economic pinch for the average American is bad at present. But those who are invested in the

stock market somehow, be it through their 401-k's, or however it is, they're doing pretty well at the moment.

FOROOHAR: Absolutely. And you know, you're painting a really important picture of what I and others call the K-shaped economy. That means that if

you have money in your 401-k, if you're somebody that you know has a good stock portfolio, owns their own home, those asset prices have been rising

and will likely keep rising unless there is a serious, serious correction in the markets.

On the other hand, if you make your money in a paycheck, you are dealing with inflation, you are dealing with a cost-of-living crisis. You are

dealing with really, you know, how are you going to put food on the table and how are you going to pay for the gas in your car to get to your job?

Two different Americas. But structurally, things have become so tipped towards wealth in America that 60 percent of consumer spending is done by

the top 10 percent of the population. So that's another reason why companies keep going. And it can sort of feel like, oh, things are all

right.

But if you're living that life in the lower, you know, 80 percent lower 50 percent lower, 20 percent you're having a very different experience than

the folks at the top. Now, at some point that k is going to tip and is, you know, the two ends are going to merge. We don't know when that's going to

happen, but it will happen. It would be historically anomalous if it didn't happen.

ANDERSON: Yeah, none of this will matter to Donald Trump unless we see, you know, a party you know, or you know, the Democrats emerge.

FOROOHAR: Yeah.

ANDERSON: As you know, a party with a story to tell, and at this point, you know, six months before these midterms, doesn't look like that at present,

but it's always good to talk to you, and we'll have you back regularly as we move through these next months, towards these November elections. Thank

you. More "Connect the World" after this short break.

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[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: CNN is exploring K-Pop in a new original series, K-Everything from for many around the world, the dance anthem, gang and style by sigh

was their first exposure to K-Pop. K-Everything host Daniel Dae Kim sat down with sigh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL DAE KIM, HOST OF K-EVERYTHING: Your summer festivals are now legendary in Korea. You've done them for a number of years. You do this in

the heat of a Korean summer. That's not easy. Did they know they were going to get wet?

PSY, ARTIST AND FOUNDER OF P NATION: Yes.

KIM: OK.

PSY: But they didn't expect that much.

KIM: When I do the show. Usually do four hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are so great.

KIM: I know as a performer what it feels like to feel like you're giving everything. And I think, how does he do that every night?

PSY: When I was young, I felt happy when I see someone happy. So, the concert is the maximum of the maximum. So, when I do the concert, let's

say, if I have 25,000 audience, I see 25,000 happy faces, in front of me, and because of me -- Wow, I can die right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From reality to heaven.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

END