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Connect the World

Trump: Ceasefire Still In Effect After U.S., Iran Trade Fire; Three Presumed Dead After Volcano Erupts In Indonesia; U.S. Beats Forecasts To Add 115,000 Jobs In April; Maersk CEO: Iran War Costing Extra Half Billion Dollars A Month; Fears Grow Over Cruise Ship with Hantavirus Outbreak. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired May 08, 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, the U.S. President insists the ceasefire is still in place, even after the U.S. and Iran

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

You're watching "Connect the World".

Also coming up this hour, global health officials work to retrace the steps of passengers who got off that cruise ship before hantavirus outbreak was

discovered. Several hikers have died after a volcano erupted in Indonesia. And an iconic British broadcaster and environmentalist David Attenborough

turns 100.

Well stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now, investors digesting a new jobs report that dropped just about a half hour ago. These

are the numbers on the futures indicating a better start to the day. The U.S. economy adding a stronger than expected, 115,000 jobs last month.

We're going to watch to see how these markets open for the trading session this Friday, a little later this hour. Well, a love tap, that is how U.S.

President Donald Trump, describes the U.S. response to an Iranian attack on American warships. Iran targeting U.S. warships like this one in the Strait

of Hormuz with missiles and drones and small boats.

President Trump says U.S. forces repelled the attack without sustaining any damage. The U.S. military also says it hit Iranian military facilities that

they believe were involved in the attack in what it calls self-defense strikes. Alayna Treene is at the White House for you. Eleni Giokos is in

Dubai. Alayna, let's start with you.

Despite all this, the president says the ceasefire is intact. So, let's just get some sense of the president's thinking behind what he describes as

this love tap.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, look Becky, I think that what we saw yesterday with the attacks traded between Washington and

Tehran were the most severe test of this fragile ceasefire. Thus far, we're clearly hearing from the Iranians arguing that all type of hostilities like

that only serve to undermine diplomacy and the efforts at getting a peace deal.

But the president is arguing essentially that this had nothing to do necessarily with Operation Epic Fury. We heard similarly from the Secretary

of State Marco Rubio today when talking with reporters in Italy and saying that the ceasefire is still intact despite this, and still, really, you're

seeing this public and private push from the White House, really, toward trying to get some sort of deal done here.

But I do want to go to back to what I was saying about what we heard from Rubio this morning, because what he said was essentially that he believes

that the Trump Administration is going to receive some sort of response from the Iranians regarding the latest U.S. proposal that we know that the

Iranians have been studying and kind of considering in recent days.

I want you to listen to what the Secretary of State told reporters today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We're expecting a response from them today at some point. We have not received that yet, as in the last hour,

but perhaps that will come. Their system is still highly fractured and a bit dysfunctional as well, so that may be serving as an impediment. I hope

it's a serious offer. I really do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: To hearing they're saying that they hope it's a serious offer. And really, that's what we've seen. Despite this past week really being again,

part of the most, you know, tenuous. We've seen this ceasefire thus far with all of the different attacks that have been strange -- exchange

particularly in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

The constant message from the White House has been that they are still pushing toward a deal. And to go back, Becky, to your initial question

about what we saw take place in the strait, we did hear Rubio add as well that the attacks yesterday from the U.S., you know, they called them

defensive attacks.

He said that they were separate and distinct from Operation Epic Fury, and again, really putting that onus on, hoping that whatever the Iranians send

back to the U.S. will be enough to continue serious negotiations and try to get to some sort of compromise.

ANDERSON: Thank you. Stand by. I want to bring Eleni in at this point. Alayna, they're talking about this ceasefire holding, as far as the U.S. is

concerned, despite this latest sort of round of tit for tat strikes.

[09:05:00]

And of course, let's remember overnight, alerts, once again, here in the UAE, of attacks, albeit relatively a small number, I think, as far as I

understand it, but Monday, a significant number of attacks on the UAE by the Iranians who maintain control, effective control of the Strait of

Hormuz. Talk us through what impact you understand that that is having on shippers?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, there's a lot happening. I just want to quickly touch on what we've seen in terms of attacks towards

the UAE. The Ministry of Defense announces today that there were two ballistic missiles and three drones, as well as three moderate injuries

today on the 8th of May, Becky.

So, we've seen three separate days this week where the UAE has experienced these attacks. In the meantime, a lot is happening in the Strait of Hormoz.

And I want to remind everyone there are 20,000 seafarers that are trapped in the Persian Gulf, and they are witnesses to what's happening in those

waters where we saw escalation, and frankly, fire exchange between the United States and Iran.

One source tells me that it was very intense fire last night, and they were also told to move closer towards Dubai waters ahead of those strikes. And

then, interestingly, we also have received the IRGC's recording the navy sending out a message on the Channel VHF 16, and they said that they want

to teach the Yankees a lesson, and they're going to use missile and drones as well.

So therefore, any vessels that are in the waters need to stay at least 10 miles away from warships, and they say for your safety. So, this is pretty

important here, where the IRGC is trying to exert not only its control, but also, you know, putting out messaging about safety of vessels.

And from my sources, from what I'm hearing is that vessels are complying with those messaging, with that messaging because they are afraid of what

could come next. We have seen the IRGC, Iran targeting numerous vessels throughout this week, and it has been a major increase in threats.

I mean, the UKMTO says it's still very severe in the waters, and they also say in the last 48 hours, there has been a significant escalation. I also

want to remind you that we had covered yesterday, the Persian Gulf strait authority Iran trying to formalize the process of vessels getting clearance

to transit the straits.

The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, saying that Iran is trying to establish, or trying to establish some agency in the straits, and that

would be a very big problem, and that would actually be unacceptable, as in the backdrop, we hope for some kind of you know, agreement.

ANDERSON: Thank you, Eleni. Alayna, let me just bring you back here. I'm just looking at the latest from U.S. CENTCOM, I think we can bring this up

on the screen. There are currently more than 70 tankers CENTCOM says that U.S. forces are preventing from entering or leaving Iranian ports.

These commercial ships have the capacity to transport over 166 million barrels of Iranian oil worth an estimated $13 billion plus. I think that's

important as we just discuss the next point, because this is, you know, an example from CENTCOM of how they believe this naval blockade is being

effective.

Aside from that, of course, Washington has been intensifying its economic squeeze on Iran, the aim to crash the Iranian economy effectively. What's

the view there in Washington at the White House of the effectiveness of this strategy, and whether or not the administration believes the Iranian

economy is effectively close to collapse at this point?

TREENE: Yeah, Becky. I mean, they do believe that, that is the best leverage that they have, essentially. I mean, they have really been

pointing to this strategy of trying to cut the Iranians off when it comes to economic policy and pressure, particularly with that blockade, the naval

blockade on Iranian ports and on the strait, but also through other efforts, and, you know, contacting as well.

You know, working in conjunction with other allies in the region of the U.S., all of that trying to really be what they see as the main thing that

is going to force the Iranians to the table as to the level of effectiveness. I mean, you hear mixed things when I have conversations with

my sources.

You know you hear the president, I should say, come out publicly and say, Iran can't last. They can only ask a couple of days before they're going to

really feel the strain and going to need to come forward because of the strain on their economy.

[09:10:00]

But then I talked to other people throughout the administration who say, look the Iranians who are in power, they are willing to withstand a ton of

economic pain, and they're also willing to pass that pain on to the public and to Iranian civilians. And so there is a bit of, I think, a mix on how

effective that strategy could be, and that's why I think you can hear in public comments from the president and other top officials.

But also privately, that you know, strong, strong desire to try and get diplomacy back on right now and have these negotiations continue in

earnest. Because what is very much clear is the, what I think they see as the only other option here is, of course, continuing major combat

operations.

And it is clear as well that it is something that this White House and this president do not want. And so, they really are leaning on this blockade and

leaning on the economic pressure and trying to force economic collapse in Iran as one of the things that will get them there. But I will add, you

know, so much of this is really up to the Iranians.

And another big problem this White House faces is that they believe that Iranian leadership is so divided, and it's very unclear if they believe

they'll be able to get to that point where substantial negotiations can actually be successful at this point, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah, this is fascinating, isn't it, to both of you. Thank you very much indeed. And we're going to do a lot more on this, including

insight, on that hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship from a Former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That story is

up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Questions and fears growing over the cruise ship with a deadly hantavirus outbreak. Now, the MV Hondius is headed to the Spanish island of

Tenerife and expected to dock there by Sunday. It's about 150 passengers and crew still on board the vessel, none of whom we are told are showing

symptoms.

Well, the plan is to fly them to their respective countries. Health officials are, meantime, working to contain the spread of the disease. They

are tracking dozens of passengers from across the globe who already disembarked from that ship in late April. Three people have died since the

outbreak began.

Well, joining us now as a Former Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Tom Frieden. He's also the President and CEO

these days of the non-profit health group Resolve to Save Lives. Good to have you, sir. Thank you. Is there -- let's start here a vaccine for this

hantavirus?

DR. TOM FRIEDEN, FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: No, there's no vaccine that has been studied and proven

hantavirus vaccine, infections are relatively rare, and there would be a very limited use for the vaccine. So, we don't have a vaccine. We don't

have a proven treatment, and we know that this particular strain of hantavirus, and there are many types of hantaviruses can be quite deadly.

[09:15:00]

So, for those on the cruise ship, this is a real risk, and we're very sad to hear of the deaths and the continued severe illnesses there.

ANDERSON: Just walk me through what your thinking is. Since you heard about this outbreak. We heard from the W.H.O. yesterday. We know that they are

trying to track down those who were on board this boat. What's the thinking here?

FRIEDEN: Well, I think you have to look at the specific and the general. Start with the specific. This is a cruise ship outbreak. Cruise ships are

very unique environments. People are in literally close quarters. The ventilation is not ideal. There are a lot of things that are touched by

many people at the same time.

They're hard to clean well. And so, we see lots of microbes spreading on cruise ships. So, it's not all that surprising to see an outbreak of

something that can spread on a cruise ship. On the other hand, what's very concerning is the high case fatality rate here. This particular strain of

the hantavirus is quite lethal.

Now, that is not to say this is the next pandemic. Hantavirus is not set up to cause a pandemic, the way say COVID was, at this point, and there's

nothing to suggest that it is on the way to doing that. However, there's a much more important lesson here, which is that we in this country and

around the world are much less safe because the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been hollowed out.

We have left the World Health Organization, and we are vulnerable to threats because we don't have these basic defenses. It would be as if our

missile and ground defenses were down because we felt like, you know, we didn't have to worry about anything happening in the rest of the world.

ANDERSON: Right, so --

FRIEDEN: And this outbreak shows that, in fact, anywhere can spread the dozens of places almost overnight.

ANDERSON: The CDC has just classified this as level three, which, as I understand it, is low risk. Just work me through that.

FRIEDEN: Right. So, there's a question of who is at risk from this, and right now, it's people who have had who are on the ship, or have been on

the ship, or who have been in contact with people who are sick, who are on the ship. We don't yet have any evidence that people who don't have

symptoms of hantavirus can infect others.

So, the risk here is quite limited to those people, but the message is very loud and clear that the world is less safe, we need to do much better,

reducing the risk of spillover events, which is what this was, and improving our ability to respond as a world and you know, the World Health

Organization has been very effective here.

They're coordinating groups, they're defining the cases, they're tracking, they're communicating, but the U.S., CDC has been basically missing

inaction. What we would usually see by this point is that the CDC would have advised all physicians in the U.S. through a health alert network.

Would have had regular press briefings. Would be on that ship, helping to do the investigation learning as we go so that we can protect Americans and

the world better. This is core to our health and safety.

ANDERSON: Summers upon us, families around the world will take their vacations. A lot of people watching this may be wondering, is it safe today

and in the weeks to come to get on a plane, to get on a ship in the coming months. What's your advice?

FRIEDEN: Well, this outbreak doesn't change that calculation at all. Whatever risks you had before, whether it was malaria or sunburn or tick

associated illness, those risks are still there. Hantavirus has been a low- level risk. In 1993, we had a big outbreak of what's called the Sin Nombre virus in the U.S., and that resulted in dozens of deaths.

So, the microbes have not left. We still have a lot of microbial enemies, and we need to keep our defenses up.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you sir. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.

FRIEDEN: Thank you.

ANDERSON: Some sage advice there. Well CNN spoke to an American doctor who boarded the MV Hondius for vacation, ended up though, treating hantavirus

patients for the last few weeks, and he explained how the situation actually evolved on the ship. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, there are three patients that seem to be getting ill around the same time, one of them just very nonspecific symptoms, a lot

of confusion and a lot of weakness, and she ultimately passed away relatively quickly.

[09:20:00]

The two other gentlemen, quite a bit younger, including the dock, just had a lot of standard viral symptoms, a lot of fever, fatigue, flushing, some

GI issues, some shortness of breath. At the time, neither one of them looked critically ill. But the fear with hantavirus is you can go from

seriously ill to critically ill, very quickly.

Early on, we didn't know that it was hantavirus until maybe May 3rd, May 2nd, May 3rd, but started treating for people May 1, just kind of have a

feeling that this could be infectious. So, from the beginning, I was trying to be careful with masks and gowns. And once we found out it was hantavirus

and a second case happened, making it seem likely there was an infectious form.

I was able to find some aprons and some goggles. I did a lot of hand washing and clothes washing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Doctor on board, the boat where the outbreak has taken place, and CNN will follow this story closely, of course, as that ship draws closer to

Tenerife scheduled for Sunday. Well, Lebanon says at least 12 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours.

In villages across the southern part of the country, Israel and Hezbollah continue to trade fire despite a fragile truce. Israelian Lebanese

ambassadors are expected to hold a third round of talks in Washington late next week to try and reach a more durable ceasefire between the two

countries.

That is, according to a U.S. State Department official and an Israeli source. I want to bring in CNN's Jeremy Diamond, he's live from Tel Aviv

for you today. And as we report on the potential for further talks between Israel and Lebanon. What are you hearing about this latest round of deadly

air strikes in Lebanon?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are continuing to see exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border. We saw Israeli strikes

yesterday that killed at least 12 people, including a child and a paramedic, who were both killed in one of those Israeli strikes.

But today, the story is one of Hezbollah rocket attacks against towns and cities in Northern Israel, deeper into Northern Israel than we have

typically seen from Hezbollah over the course of this ceasefire for the last three weeks. And in fact, it followed a warning from the Israeli

military this afternoon to citizens saying that they were preparing for the possibility of fire from Lebanon towards Northern Israel.

About a half hour later, sirens sounded in Northern Israeli towns such as Nahariya and Akko, where we saw multiple rocket launches from Lebanon that

were detected according to the Israeli military. No casualties are known at this time as a result of that rocket fire, but it does indeed show the way

in which we have watched this very, very fragile ceasefire really come very close to the brink of collapsing altogether this week.

We saw an Israeli Strike in the Lebanese capital on Wednesday night, the first such strike from Israel in the Lebanese capital since this ceasefire

began. And again, as you mentioned, Becky, this all comes against the backdrop of this diplomatic dance that is being attempted here, led in

large part by the President of the United States, to encourage diplomacy between Israel and Lebanon. The next round of those talks is expected to

take place next Thursday, but we will see.

You know what this latest round of Hezbollah rocket attacks, these latest Israeli air strikes, what that will do to the prospects of that diplomacy

actually moving forward, and whether or not we could see an escalation of the kinetic aspect of this conflict, as Israel is now calling this latest

round of Hezbollah rocket fire, a quote, additional violation of the ceasefire understandings by Hezbollah raising questions about what kind of

retaliation we could see from Israel, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah. Yeah, that's worrying, isn't it? Listen, before I let you go, I know that there has been a Palestinian journalist freed after a year

in Israeli detention. You know this journalist. You've worked with him. Just tell us who he is and how he is?

DIAMOND: Yeah, that's right. Ali al-Samoudi is one of the most prominent journalists in the West Bank. He is known in part for the fact that he was

alongside the Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022 when she was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers.

Samoudi himself was wounded by gun fire in that same incident, but fast forward several years later, and last year, in April of last year, Samoudi

was suddenly detained by the Israeli military. At the time, the military told us that he was suspected of transferring funds to Islamic Jihad, the

Palestinian militant group that Israel considers a terrorist organization.

[09:25:00]

But I interviewed Samoudi yesterday after he was released from detention, more than after a year in Israeli prison, none of which during that time

was he ever accused of actually funding Islamic Jihad. It never came up in his interrogations, he said, and he was never charged with any crime.

Instead held under what's known as administrative detention, which allows the Israeli military to hold individuals for up to six months without any

charge, and they can renew that an indefinite number of times. And so Samoudi was held for a year. I got to tell you, Becky, when I saw him, I

barely recognized him.

He has lost 60 kilos, about half of his body weight. He looks like a man much older than his 59 years of age, and he was walking with considerable

difficulty. He told me that the conditions in Israeli prisons are simply hell on earth. He described the restrictions on food, the insufficient

amount of food that prisoners in these prisons received, many of whom, again, are being held without any charge, without any trial.

He also told me that he is going to continue to keep up his journalism. He's going to return to his task of being a journalist, because he says it

is his life's mission and his life's work, Becky.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you, Jeremy. Thank you very much indeed. Jeremy is in Tel Aviv for you today. We're following a developing story of

Indonesia for you this hour. There three hikers are presumed dead after a volcanic eruption. These dramatic videos show thick ash and smoke shooting

from the crater on Mount Dukono earlier today.

Officials say a number of climbers have been affected by the eruption. They have been evacuated safely. We've just learned a rescue operation on the

mountain has been suspended for now, but will pick up again on Saturday. Well, trading about to begin on Wall Street, shares set for higher open as

investors digest April's jobs report.

We'll have the numbers for you and the analysis on those, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You're watching "Connect the World" is your headlines. U.S. President Donald Trump tells

ABC News that the U.S. response to an Iranian attack on American warships was a quote, love tab. U.S. military says it hit Iranian military

facilities involved in attacking those warships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Well, the cruise ship with the hantavirus outbreak is set to dock at the Spanish island of Tenerife this weekend.

[09:30:00]

The plan is to fly, but 150 non-symptomatic people on board back to their home countries. Health officials are racing to track passengers around the

globe who disembarked earlier. See how the markets get on as we listen to the opening bell on Wall Street. Markets were set to open a little higher,

and one would expect them to do that.

Let's have a little look. And there you go, about a third of one percentage point higher. The latest U.S. jobs report feeding into that sort of fairly

optimistic sentiment on Wall Street. Data just out shows the U.S. added 115,000 jobs last month. That far exceeded forecasts which had expected the

figure to be around 65,000.

Well, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent. I want to bring in Paul Donovan, his Chief Economist at UBS Global Wealth Management. What do

you make of those numbers?

PAUL DONOVAN, CHIEF ECONOMIST AT UBS GLOBAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT: Well, we've got to be a little bit careful with U.S. employment data, to use a

technical term, it's what we call dodgy data in the markets, because the reliability of these numbers has declined in recent years.

So you get a lot of revisions, and when we look at the revisions, there were subtractions over the last couple of months, but basically what we've

got here is a continuation of companies not hiring, not firing workers, and that gives you a sort of OK-ish employment situation, drop in employment

participation, little bit worrying that some slowdown in wage growth, problematic with the affordability crisis, but basically, it's an OK sort

of report.

ANDERSON: OK. Markets certainly taken a degree of optimism, I think, out of those numbers, perhaps seeking direction and not finding much elsewhere. I

want to concentrate on what is going on in the Strait of Hormuz and how that is affecting things. One source regionally here, suggesting to me that

many countries around this region really worried that we haven't seen the full impact, either on these regional economies or on the global economy as

of yet.

And the longer this strait is effectively closed, the worse it gets Maersk. Spoke with my colleague Richard Quest yesterday, the CEO, on the cost of

this war. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VINCENT CLERC, CEO OF MAERSK: We're looking at an extra cost bill of half a billion dollars a month that we're going to face basically from April and

for as long as this lasts. Obviously, this is a significant amount, and there is something that we can do on cost mitigation, which we will do, but

the rest of it is really a commercial conversation with customers about having to pass this cost on, because otherwise this is completely

unsustainable for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Extra cost of half a billion dollars a month, that is significant. Paul, how much longer do you believe companies involved will

deal with this? And indeed, when do you expect to see the sort of negative impact on markets, for example, that you might have already expected but

haven't seen to date.

DONOVAN: Well, what we've got to remember is that companies are pretty effectively passing costs on to the end consumer. So, the damage that's

being done here is being passed through to the end consumer. And of course, we've already seen that in the States, with the tariffs last year, where

the cost of the tariffs was passed very, very quickly through to the end consumer.

So, if you're a company, costs up, but sales price is up as well. Now normally you would get worries about earnings growth, because you say,

well, if the price is going up, people are going to buy less, the volume of purchases will go down. But that hasn't happened so far, and that's because

consumers in developed markets have been digging into their savings rate, cutting back how much money they save every month in order to afford the

higher prices.

And again, that's exactly what we saw Americans do with the tariffs last year, and we're seeing it being repeated again across developed economies.

People cutting back on savings for now to be able to afford the higher prices that companies are passing through to them.

ANDERSON: If this thing goes on, says one source I spoke to yesterday, it is quite a frightening prospect of what the next 60 to 90 days could look

like. This is a regional source here. And what do you make of that?

DONOVAN: 60 to 90 days. I don't think you're going to see major economic problems.

[09:35:00]

You'll start to see a bit more tension. You may get some selective energy shortages 60 to 90 days, though, that's not when the problem comes in. For

me, the problem comes in when consumers are no longer willing to keep cutting back on their savings rate, and then you would start to see

consumption have to be cut back in order to pay for the higher energy costs.

Now, when does that happen? This is not a precise science, but I would say that's really a fourth quarter story at the earliest that you'd be talking

about that sort of situation.

ANDERSON: Always good to have you, Paul, thank you very much indeed for joining us. We are back after this quick break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: From BTS selling out stadiums on their new tour to the K-Pop Demon Hunters changing the game in Hollywood. K-Pop is truly a global

phenomenon. What does it take to make it in an industry where the competition is as fierce as the talent. Was part of the CNN original

series, K-Everything.

Daniel Dae Kim spoke to rising K-Pop star Jeon Somi about her journey so far. Have a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL DAE KIM, HOST OF K-EVERYTHING: You know, I've seen a lot of your music and heard a lot of your music.

JEON SOMI, SOUTH KOREAN-CANADIAN SINGER: Yeah.

KIM: And the one thing I would say about you is that you're a survivor.

SOMI: Thank you.

KIM (voice-over): This is Jeon Somi. Her dad, Matthew Douma is hosting us for lunch at his restaurant. Now 25, Somi audition for JYP Trainee program

when she was 12.

KIM: What years were you in the Trainee program?

SOMI: When I was in fifth grade is when I started. And that's when I started to get bullied, a lot picked on school because I was like a heavy.

KIM (voice-over): She means Korean on her mom's side and Dutch Canadian on her dad.

SOMI: So, the training system was actually the one place that I felt comfortable, because at school, I'll get bullied. But here it's only with

skills. If you're good at dancing, if you're good at singing.

KIM: It doesn't matter.

SOMI: It does not matter.

KIM: Yeah.

SOMI: So that was really the charm for me to push myself forward into my skills and creating art.

KIM: Would you say that the fact that you were bullied kind of taught you how to fight for yourself?

SOMI: -- When you said I'm a survivor, I was like, hell, yeah, survivor and a fighter for sure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have another song do you want to sing.

KIM: Just a year into her training, Somi took part in his 2015 reality TV show, 16 trainees competing for a spot in a new girl group. Somi was

eliminated in the final round, just missing out on joining the band called twice. In 2016, Somi joined another K-Pop survival show produce, 101. This

time, Somi won first place and became the leader of project group I.O.I.

[09:40:00]

KIM: When I watch these young girls' debut, there's a little bit of me like that feels very paternal, like you must have --

MATT DOUMA, JEON SOMI'S FATHER: She's a minor.

KIM: Just 10.

DOUMA: She's a minor, right? You know, when she's in a company, they're basically in charge of her.

SOMI: We have this song that I wanted to punch a few lyrics to.

KIM (voice-over): She's now a solo artist who's charted top 10 singles in Korea, the U.S. and beyond.

KIM: Now looking at where you are in the K-Pop landscape, are you happy with your place? Do you feel like that ambition that you have has been

satisfied?

SOMI: I don't think the ambition is satisfied. Well, I'm just here as a soloist trying my best to prove a point. My background, my dad, my mom, the

culture, just being a girl like I'm trying to prove a point.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Korea has had an explosive global influence from award winning films to K-beauty and film in the premier episode of the new CNN original

series K-Everything. Daniel Dae Kim explores Korea's booming music industry with K-Pop royalty sigh and steps inside the studio behind Korea's biggest

hits.

K-Everything, premiering on Saturday on CNN. We are going to take a short break. "World Sport" up after that. And I'll be back in 15 minutes time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

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