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Trump and Iranian President Sign Hard Copies of Agreement; Trump Now Supports Iran Having Some Ballistic Missiles; Kyiv Launches Attack on Moscow Since War Began; Trump Administration to File 250 Denaturalization Cases by October; New York Prepares for Today's Knicks Victory Parade. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired June 18, 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)

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: It is 02:00 p.m. here in London, where the new Obama Presidential Center is set to open today in

Chicago at 08:00 p.m. I'm Christina Macfarlane, and this is "Connect the World". Also coming up today, President Trump and Iran's President

Pezeshkian signed the Memorandum of Understanding between their countries.

Ukraine launches its largest drone offensive on Moscow since the start of the war. And the Knicks championship parade is set to take over the streets

of New York, celebrating their first NBA title since 1973. And the stock market in New York opens in about 30 minutes from now.

Let's take a quick look and see how futures are doing. All indices, they're up in the green following that interest rate announcement from the Fed

yesterday. Now, Iran's newspapers are declaring victory after the signing of the U.S.-Iran agreement, and the Iranian President calls it a message

from a strong Iran.

Masoud Pezeshkian and U.S. President Donald Trump have signed hard copies of the Memorandum of Understanding, it aims to reopen the Strait of Hormuz

and end the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Israel continues to strike, but the agreement leaves some major details for later, including

the future of Iran's nuclear program.

At the end of the G7 summit in France, President Trump said there are more talks with Iran to come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: -- it's a Memorandum of Understanding. If it doesn't get done in 60 days, that's all

right. We go back to bombing, you know. I don't want to do that, because it's so good, but we might have to. Then it's a memorandum of --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: CNN's Oren Liebermann is standing by for us in Jerusalem. But first I just want to get the thoughts of Stephen Collinson, who is in

Washington, because Stephen, you have written an analysis piece today and reflecting on Trump's quote, there you say the epiphany about the cost of

the war in his epiphany about the cost of the war, Trump might finally have found what he's been looking for almost since launching the conflict in

February a way out.

Chief Negotiator Ghalibaf has been talking in the last 24 hours, and he said this as well. Take a listen to this, Stephen.

[09:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMAD BAGHER GHALIBAF, IRAN'S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR: It was Westerners who were saying this. I said, in short, this Memorandum of Understanding is a

record card of America's defeat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Defeat. I mean, is that the consensus on how this is being viewed today here, Stephen.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: I do not think people in Washington really want to confront that notion, especially in the

administration. But clearly the terms of this deal, which do seem to favor Iran, do also validate, I think, many of the strategic assumptions that

Iran has made over the last few months after surviving the initial relentless onslaught from U.S. and Israeli bombing.

It was clear with their closure of the Strait of Hormuz that they believed that they could create economic costs that would translate into political

costs for the United States and the rest of the world that would allow them to prevail in this war, and that seems to be exactly what happened.

In fact, the president, who sometimes is noted for candor, said his news conference with the G7, he was worried about an economic catastrophe, and

he didn't want to go down like Herbert Hoover, the president who presided over the beginning of the Great Depression in the 1920s and 30s.

So, I think Iran has every right here to argue that it was right in its strategic assumptions. That doesn't necessarily mean that this is the end

of it. I think there is some hope in Washington that the nuclear talks that will take place over 60 days can try to redress some of the balance, but

you have to say, when you look at the leverage that the United States has given up to get to those talks and to get the strait back open, that seems

also to be something that may cause disappointment in Washington going forward.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and it's certain that President Trump would have returned home, as you say, to a lot of criticism from lawmakers and analysts in

Washington today, but I have to ask the question, Stephen, what is the alternative here? Because to continue with a failed war would essentially

compound Washington's problems at this point.

COLLINSON: Yes, and I think that speaks to the box that the president got himself in with launching this war with perhaps not thinking through the

long-term consequences if it didn't result in the immediate toppling of the Iranian regime. American history in the modern age is littered with

American wars that presidents continue to fight, even though they're already lost or have settled into a stalemate.

Many lives have been lost among American service personnel and civilians, and people caught in the crossfire. So, in a way, Trump cutting his losses

and walking away could, in some sense, be seen as a favorable decision for many humanitarian reasons, even though there are many arguments about why

he launched this war in the first place, and many of the terrible consequences that ensued.

But I think the price the U.S. had to pay, the lifting, the waiving of sanctions until they're formally lifted before the talks, just gets us to

the strategic dead end that the United States marched into when it started this war, and therefore the price for getting out is exceedingly high.

MACFARLANE: Oren, let's turn to you briefly, because hanging in the background, of course, of this moment really is Israel's reluctance to see

any ceasefire deal on these terms reach fruition. So how is this being viewed in Israel today? And where are we on the issue of Lebanon?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Israel and Israelis generally view this whole development, the Memorandum of Understanding, and

President Donald Trump's remarks as incredibly negative. In fact, in one Israeli media outlet Trump's remarks yesterday on the agreement itself, and

for example, saying that Iran needs ballistic missiles for its own defenses.

They are viewed as quote, one of the most difficult speeches an American President has ever given regarding Israel and its prime minister in a time

of war, and that's just a bit of a flavor of what you're hearing here in terms of the agreement itself, and how it's being viewed, especially as the

U.S. is effectively going to force Israel to end the war in Lebanon, not on Israeli terms, but on, frankly, Iranian terms, and that's part of the issue

here.

Now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to convey to Trump that Israel is not a party to the agreement or a signatory to the understanding,

and isn't going to withdraw from Lebanon, but obviously Trump has drawn pretty severe boundaries around what Israel is allowed to do in Lebanon.

He has quite publicly criticized Israel and Netanyahu for attacking Beirut since the last ceasefire.

[09:10:00]

So, you see Trump effectively boxing Netanyahu in. And yet if you look on the ground once again after the latest ceasefire, and after the one before

that, and the one before that, going back to November 2024, the conflict there continues. Israel is still striking southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah is still carrying out drone attacks against Israeli sword forces in southern Lebanon. So, the conflict there continues with the possibility,

if it expands, to cause a real problem for the U.S.-Iran negotiations over the next 60 plus days.

MACFARLANE: Oren, thank you. Stephen, a final thought for you. I mean, President Trump has long taken a hard line on Iran, as we know -- full

nuclear dismantlement, imposing maximum pressure sanctions, but I just want to play this clip of him from the G7 presser yesterday. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We are going to destroy their missiles and raise their missile industry to the ground. What am I going to do? Am I going to let Saudi

Arabia have missiles, but they can't have them. Yes, sir. Kent doesn't work that way, you know. It doesn't work that way. Missiles aren't the problem.

Missiles, they hurt a little location, but they don't blow up the planet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: So, I mean, a split screen there between what President Trump said in February and what he's saying today, that it's unfair for Iran not

to have ballistic missiles if other countries have them. And what do you think of Trump's softened stance, and how much he's increasingly treating

Iran as the serious regional power?

LIEBERMANN: Yeah, sometimes it's difficult to really explain some of the things Trump said, because they're so contradictory. I think what he does

is he changes his position relative to what he needs the reality to be at any moment in time. We often see that in other foreign policy issues, like

in his dealings with Russia, for example, telling the states in the Gulf or Israel that missiles aren't really a problem.

They only blow up a little area of land after what we've seen in the last 3.5 months is going to be deeply alarming. I think sometimes Trump thinks

out loud, sometimes he says things that appear really naive and lacking knowledge of a situation, just this week, for example, he said that Syria

would be better at dealing with Lebanon than Israel.

Obviously, everyone knows the history of Syria in Lebanon during the civil war. That seemed a very strange thing to say as well. I think Trump at all

times manipulates situations and evidence to improve his own personal position, and I think that's what we may be seeing here.

He wants Iran to stick to this agreement, and so, oddly enough, he seems to be parroting some of Iran's talking points.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, I think we could show many split screens really today versus February on how different his views are then versus now. But Stephen

Collinson, Oren Lieberman, thank you both so much for analysis this hour. Now, the U.S.-Iran agreement runs to fewer than 800 words in English.

CNN has gone through them line by line, and our analysis is now up on CNN Digital, with insight on the commitments made by each side. You can find

that on all of CNN's Digital platforms. And the agreement between the U.S. and Iran is giving world leaders the opportunity now to focus on another

major conflict, the war in Ukraine.

Right now, the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group is meeting at NATO headquarters, where Kyiv is asking for an additional $20 billion in

military funding. It comes after Ukraine launched its largest drone offensive on Moscow since the start of the war. The U.S. Defense Secretary

is doubling down on the Trump Administration's position towards NATO, announcing a six-month review of the U.S. military commitment to Europe.

Sebastian Shukla has more on the latest unrest.

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: We've been seeing both sides, Moscow and Kyiv, exchanging air attacks like this now for several weeks as it becomes

clearly a new phase of this war. And what we are trying, what both sides are trying to do, is to weaken each other's positions from the standpoint

of the U.S. and for Europe.

They really believe that the Ukrainians have the upper hand here now. And that these attacks are demonstrating two things to President Putin and the

Russian people. One is that it is bringing the war home to Russians to say, look, the president is not able to keep you safe.

And the second is that the targeting of these locations and strikes is very specific. We've seen this attack today targeting an oil refinery outside

Moscow.

[09:15:00]

We've seen attacks in St. Petersburg attacking another oil facility and all of it is designed to really push the Russian economy, which European and

defense and security officials are saying is really teetering now as a result of these attacks. The hope is that all of this is a way to push

President Putin towards the negotiating table.

And we saw at the G7 summit just in the last few days that all of those leading G7 members, including Donald Trump, are aligned that this is the

way forward.

MACFARLANE: All right, still to come, we are live in Chicago as Former U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to officially open his presidential center

in Chicago later today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Nearly a decade after leaving the White House, Former U.S. President Barack Obama is set to officially open his presidential center in

Chicago. Today's ceremony will bring together a number of high-profile guests, including his wife, Michelle Obama, and Former Presidents Joe

Biden, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.

Obama's $850 million center is the first U.S. presidential museum to open since 2013 and includes a number of exhibits, cultural experiences, and

public spaces. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is joining us now, live from Chicago. He's been covering it. And I know, Jeff, that you have actually already been

given a tour of the facility.

What was it like, and what can you tell us about today's event?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, this is one of those chapters of American history that we see as presidents

pass the torch a bit, and she said it has been nearly a decade since Barack Obama left office. One of the reasons this presidential center has taken so

long was because of the global pandemic, the supply chain issues, and also legal challenges, but it is opening formally today.

And when you walk inside, it starts with a bit of a history lesson, not obviously starting with Barack Obama being elected to the White House, but

what came before the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, suffrage, the abolitionist movement. So really places him in history, in his place, of

course, as the country's 44th president, but also as the country's first African American President.

And so that is one of the beginnings, but also talks about his campaign, and it was not a foregone conclusion that Barack Obama would be a two-term

president or even reach the White House at all. So, this the museum goes through his difficult presidential campaign and his difficult presidency,

tackling some of the challenges that did not get finished, like immigration reform and gun control.

So, it certainly is Barack Obama putting his spin on his legacy, like all presidential libraries do, but you really are taken by what a different era

that was even only a decade ago.

[09:20:00]

And we should point out one person not here, not invited, is President Donald Trump, a former president, and obviously the current president, just

because of his contentious relationship and some of the many things he has said about the Obamas.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and I think it's impossible ahead of this opening not to draw parallels, really, between the Obama and the Trump presidencies. And

with that in mind, I just want to bring our viewers some polling data, just out from CNN. I think we can show on the screen here.

57 percent of those polled said they have a favorable opinion of Obama compared to Trump at 34 percent. I mean, what do you make of those figures,

Jeff.

ZELENY: Look a very high figure for a former president, and what is really driving that is how independents, independent voters are viewing Barack

Obama. They view his presidency in a much higher light than they did at the time, and that's not uncommon. I mean, the Bush presidency and the -- his

time in office is also viewed in a much higher light than it was.

So obviously driving that number 57 percent it's pretty extraordinary, nearly 6 in 10 Americans have a favorable view. So that obviously includes

some Republicans as well, and I think part of it is just the difference in time as voters and Americans are sort of comparing what they see now in the

Trump era with the Obama Administration.

But also, health care, you remember that being one of the biggest challenges for the Obama Administration, health care reform, it nearly sunk

his presidency and threw his reelection into doubt, but now the Obamacare, if you will, is viewed in a far more favorable light because it's expanded

coverage to so many uninsured Americans.

So that is just one example of how in the rear view mirror these presidencies often look much stronger than they do in the moment.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and I think another thing very much front of mind today is in the wake of the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding being signed,

is how much does Donald Trump's agreement with Iran compare with the Obama era deal under the JCPOA? I mean, do you have any thoughts on that today?

ZELENY: Well, look, that certainly has been one of the central questions here. And it certainly, the JCPOA was some 18 or 19 months of negotiating

to get that deal done, not of course the same in this moment. This was a military action that ended with a ceasefire.

We will see if that holds, but there are many, many differences in terms of the payments that are paid, but I think the biggest takeaway is that back

in 2018 when President Trump effectively ripped up that document, was that the wisest move here? And even some Republicans are criticizing what this

Memorandum of Understanding actually is going to lead to be.

So many differences, obviously, but I think the biggest ones are just the depth in which these agreements were reached. So, a much more work in

progress, I guess you would say, to be charitable for the Trump Administrations, because so many technical details are still to be worked

out.

MACFARLANE: Indeed, they are. Jeff Zeleny there in Chicago, as we look ahead to the grand opening of this space. Thanks very much, Jeff for now.

And we're turning now to a CNN Exclusive. A Senior Justice Department official tells CNN the Trump Administration is planning to file at least

250 denaturalization cases by October, intensifying its effort to revoke citizenship from people naturalized in the U.S.

Now the push is part of President Trump's more forceful immigration policies that go beyond just targeting those in the U.S. legally. CNN's

Priscilla Alvarez has the story and is joining us from Washington. And Priscilla, I guess it's important to talk about the numbers here, because

as we understand it, between 2008 and June 12 of this year, only 166 denaturalization complaints were filed by the federal government, an annual

average of less than 10.

So, this new push from the Trump Administration will drastically increase this. What more you learning about that, and how they're planning to do it?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, simply put, they are trying to surpass and exceed what happened in 18 years in a matter of one year with

those 250 denaturalization cases that they're planning for by October. So, this is an unprecedented push by all accounts.

And it's part of the administration's aggressive agenda, not only targeting those in the country illegally, but also those legally, and this is an

authority that the federal government has. It is in federal statute, and essentially it boils down to this, how someone represented themselves in

the naturalization process.

[09:25:00]

So, the administration is looking at those cases where there were criminal history or criminal acts that were committed before or during the

naturalization process. This does not apply to what happened after someone obtained U.S. citizenship. And we've seen this in the complaints filed so

far.

Just in the last two months, they filed 29 cases, they being the Justice Department. And they have included, for example, people who committed

fraud, sexual abuse of a minor, or expressed support for terrorism before or during the naturalization process. Now, in the past, the reason that

there have been fewer cases filed is because this is time consuming.

It requires a lot of resources, and generally has been pursued where there have been war crimes or terrorism, that is what experts tell me. In this

case, however, the Justice Department is moving around resources to try to ramp this up considerably, but still trying to remain or keep the focus on

those with criminal histories or who committed those criminal acts.

So, again, we'll see how far they make it toward this goal of 250. It is an enormous goal. But in addition to that, all of this happens in the courts.

The government does not have unilateral authority to just strip someone of their citizenship; rather, they have to take this and file these complaints

in courts across the country, and that process, in and of itself, can take months, if not years.

So, this is the first step in what is going to be a long process for the administration, and again, I think it's worth stressing here that this is

for foreign-born Americans, so those who are naturalizing the United States. This doesn't apply to birthright citizenship, so someone who is

born in the United States, Isa.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, well, plenty to watch and see, as you say, as this is a protracted process. How many will make it through? Great reporting,

Priscilla Alvarez. Thank you very much. And we are moments away from the open on Wall Street. U.S. stocks are set for a higher open.

Optimism, of course, over the situation in Iran seeming to upset concern over remarks from the Federal Reserve's new chairman. We'll have those

details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back, I'm Christina Macfarlane in London, and you are watching "Connect the World". These are your headlines this hour. Some U.S.

Republican lawmakers are criticizing the president's agreement with Iran. It's been signed by both Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart.

The 14-point Memorandum of Understanding aims to end the war on all fronts and reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz. Nearly a decade after leaving the

White House, Former U.S. President Barack Obama is opening his presidential center in Chicago today.

[09:30:00]

The ceremony is expected to draw a number of the IP guests, including Former Presidents Biden, Clinton, and Bush. The long-awaited $850 million

center opens to the public on Friday. And let's have a look and see how the stocks are getting on at the open this hour.

There you have it. The DOW up by nearly 75 percent. U.S. -- the obviously the Iran-U.S. deal raising optimism for markets that the Strait of Hormuz

will reopen. And oil prices also are falling to their lowest level since early March, on the hopes that cruise will begin flowing through the Strait

of Hormuz as well.

Brent and U.S. crude are currently down, as you can see here, by around 2 percent or 2.5 percent, and prices at the pump are also falling too.

Gasoline prices in the U.S. just below $4 for the first time since the end of March. Well, U.S. crude oil now is edging back towards the price it was

before the start of the war in Iran.

Let's bring in CNN Business Senior Reporter David Goldman. And David, I guess Donald Trump promised that oil would drop like a rock, so I guess we

can say he's pretty much right.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, almost. So, oil certainly has been falling much, much more than it has over the course of

the past several months. Just in the past several days, it has dropped from above 90 to below 80. And I think I can join everyone in saying that this

is welcome news, because we know that oil fuels gas prices.

And as you mentioned, in the United States, we have fallen below $4. But we still have a long way to go. Remember, oil was below 70 before the war

started, and gas prices were well below $3 a gallon before the war started. And that might be a difficult $10 and another dollar in gas to get to, for

a number of reasons, including the fact that we have hit operational stress levels in inventories.

Now that's kind of like when you are at the coffee pot and you pull down the spigot and nothing comes out and you have to tip the urn closer to you

to get the coffee out, that's kind of what is happening in these oil stockpiles right now, and that means that we've got a decision to make.

We can either raise the price so that fewer people buy it, so we have time to refill these inventories, or we can stop exporting to other countries,

either way, it means that prices will either need to come up or that oil from the Strait of Hormuz, which is now open, needs to start flowing.

Well, I got some tough news for you, because that oil isn't going to flow out of the Strait of Hormuz right away. We've seen maybe seven tankers come

through today, that is a Far Cry from the 100 tankers that we're normally seeing. It needs to be de-mined. Production needs to come back online.

We need to have all of those laden tankers exit and the empty tankers come in. All of that needs to happen before we start to see, what we would like

to see, which is normal prices.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, certainly not an overnight fix, is it?

GOLDMAN: Yes.

MACFARLANE: But I guess a starting point in many ways, because how much do you think the agreement between U.S. and Iran is tempering investors'

concerns on what they heard from the new Federal Reserve Chairman last night, namely the prospect of an interest rate rise potentially by the end

of the year.

Well, certainly the oil market is exclusively focused on the good news coming out of the Strait of Hormuz. They've been wanting this for a long

time, and really since April, prices have been gradually falling, and now they're rapidly falling, so they are believing that this is going to stick.

Of course, there's a 60 day, you know, temporary ceasefire extension, so we'll have to see what happens at the end of those 60 days. A lot is left

to be determined, but then certainly for the Federal Reserve, as well, there was a warning here where all of those higher gas prices have weighed

on inflation.

They have made prices go significantly higher than the Fed is comfortable with.

[09:35:00]

And Federal Reserve Chair, the new Federal Reserve Chair, Kevin Warsh, certainly sounded like a rate hike could be coming this year, not what the

president ordered, that might weigh on stocks a little bit going forward. It did yesterday, not today. We'll see when happens.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, we will indeed. It certainly felt like a bit of a new era under Kevin Warsh's first announcement yesterday. Thank you for to say the

least. David, thank you so much. We'll continue to watch this. And we are continuing also to monitor SpaceX's share price in its first full week of

trading.

The stock is lower this morning, adding to losses on Wednesday, the first day that it ended lower. It was down around 5 percent at the close, but

it's still about 40 percent higher than the IPO price. Analysts say there could be volatility ahead as the company tries to match its growth

ambitions with a realistic plan of action.

Now it's a celebration that will rival New Year's Eve in New York, they say. We are just a few minutes away from the Knicks NBA championship

parade, where the police are expecting attendance to be in the millions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: New York Knicks championship parade will soon get underway in just a few minutes at 10:00 a.m. local time. The NYPD and city officials

only had a few days to come up with a solid safety plan, and that includes more than 10,000 officers who will be on duty during the parade, and

sanitation trucks will be used to block side streets.

Police are expecting a staggering amount of people. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is live for us in New York. So, this is really unprecedented levels of

security. What's the feeling there on the streets, Shimon?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I think people are getting a little restless. People have been here since four in

the morning, here, so almost six hours already, the security here has just been unprecedented.

We are at a point now. My understanding is from city officials, is that they are no longer allowing people, spectators, fans along the parade

route. This was something that was going to happen. This was something the NYPD was anticipating. So, they have security checkpoints, which they don't

normally do at these parades, but given the security concerns, they set up security checkpoints, and people had to go through those points to get in

here.

Now they have stopped, they have stopped allowing people onto the parade route. There are millions here at this point. The mayor saying this could

possibly be the largest parade the city has ever had. Now, here's what happens, the players on floats, about 50 floats, the players, the team

members, celebrities, other folks will be on these floats.

[09:40:00]

There are about 50 floats that are going to travel just a mile, make their way up what's known as the Canyon of Heroes. It's a special place. It's a

place where many well-known, celebrated humans, who have done the most extraordinary thing in their lives, from astronauts to political leaders,

who have been celebrated up the Canyon of Heroes.

And there's confetti and with ticker tape that falls over them as they make their way up Broadway. And so that will take probably about two hours just

to go that one mile, and then afterwards there's going to be a big ceremony at City Hall where they will be given the keys to the city, and there will

be speeches and a performance from Alicia Keys.

And it's going to be such an exciting moment. I know many of the people here can't wait for this to start. Right, you guys just want to get this --

right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right. We can't wait to see --

PROKUPECZ: You want to see the players, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. It needs to start. I'm losing hope here --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never lose hope.

PROKUPECZ: Never lose hope. Look, how long it took to get here --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- I can't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's worth it. It's worth every minute.

PROKUPECZ: The players are starting to get there, make their way on the floats. They're starting to, so we're going to get there. We're going to

get. I think that just -- what's going to happen is, once things start going and people, the players start moving, there's going to be such a

moment here, such joy that so many New Yorkers have felt for the last 10 weeks since this playoff run.

I can't wait to see it, and I can't wait to see the happiness on all of their faces, because in many ways, for many of these people here, this is

the closest, the closest they're going to get to see these players. They're heroes, and hopefully soon we'll get this going here, and the party can get

started.

MACFARLANE: And Shimon, just quickly, are you -- where abouts are you exactly on the parade route? And are you going to get to stay inside the

barriers when the floats come past?

PROKUPECZ: Yes, we're going to be able to see them. So, Steve (ph), let's show this. So, this is the roadway, this is Broadway. We're just on the

Canyon of Heroes on Broadway, and this is where the parade is going to come up. It's going to make its way up here, so the floats will literally pass

us.

And the people who are here, Steve (ph), let's show this way. Really, the people in the front row are going to be so close to the players, and

they're going to be able to wave at them and say hello and scream and yell. It's going to be quite a moment.

MACFARLANE: Quite a moment. And I'm loving the shirt and the nails as well, Shimon. I notice you're in full colors today, so enjoy the moment.

PROKUPECZ: Yeah. Thank you.

MACFARLANE: And yeah, the floats are beginning to leave, so enjoy it. I'm sure a lifelong Knicks fan there. And that is it for this hour. I'll be

back with more "Connect the World" in 15 minutes. "World Sport", though, is up next. Stay tuned for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

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