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Trump Grows His Bottom Line in Office; U.S.-Israel War with Iran; Venezuela Earthquakes; World Cup Exposes Human Trafficking in Mexico; Belgium Apartment Fire; FIFA World Cup Highlights; Anthropic's Top AI Models to Be Restored; Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Merger; Swift-Kelce Nuptials. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired July 01, 2026 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Welcome to the second hour of the show from our Middle East programming headquarters. I'm Becky Anderson in
Abu Dhabi, where the time is just after 6:00 in the evening.
New disclosures show that U.S. president Donald Trump made more than $1 billion from crypto ventures alone this term. The details on that this
hour.
We're told technical, indirect negotiations are happening in Qatar today between Iran and the U.S.
And in Venezuela, the search for the missing continues as earthquake survivors turned their anger on the government.
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ANDERSON: Well, the first year of Donald Trump's in office was a very profitable one for the U.S. president.
A 927-page financial disclosure released by the president shows he made billions of dollars after his return to the White House, the largest chunk
of that money, more than $1 billion, coming from crypto ventures now, including one linked to a firm managed by his two oldest sons.
The earnings are unprecedented for any sitting president. The White House insists none of them -- none of this poses a conflict of interest. So let's
explore this. CNN Politics senior reporter and friend of this show, Stephen Collinson, up with us this hour.
Stephen, $1 billion for a sitting president, that is unprecedented. As I said, there are concerns over Trump's financial -- Trump family's financial
activity. So let's just lay them out.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, the problem here is that critics of the president, although he says he's done nothing
wrong and there's no evidence of any wrongdoing that has been revealed in these disclosures.
It's that the administration, of which the president is, of course, the most important member, is involved in regulating the cryptocurrency
industry and, in some cases, his policies have promoted that industry.
At the same time as he obviously has substantial financial interests in the industry. The White House says all that the president is doing is managing
the country for the interests of the American people.
But with conflict of interest questions, it's always whether there could be a conflict of interest or actually a perceived conflict of interest. And
that is why this is so different, I think, than many other presidents.
Jimmy Carter, for example, he put his interests and his family's peanut firm in an independent trust when he was president. While the current
president doesn't seem to be managing his businesses actively at the moment, his two sons are. And there you have that nexus, which is something
that's concerning ethics campaigners.
ANDERSON: President Trump was asked about his investments earlier this morning. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: But there are big institutions and they invest in whatever they invest in.
QUESTION: But to critics who say -- to critics who say you're profiting off the presidency --
TRUMP: Well, you know why I'm profiting?
Because the stock market's going up. Everybody's profiting. If you have a - - you have a 401(k)?
How's your 401(k) done?
It's about up 85 percent. Thank you, President Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Look, he says to your point, he says he never speaks to anyone who runs the money. But his family is directly involved. And in that shot,
his sons were standing right behind him. And they are involved in the family business.
You know, we're talking about this being unprecedented.
Have we ever seen any other politicians have the sort of, let's call it the leeway, I guess, to have investments like this?
COLLINSON: Not in the United States. And you remember way back in the 2016 campaign, there was this massive controversy over the president's refusal
to release his tax returns.
[10:05:00]
That was something that presidential candidates had done for decades. What president Trump has done has completely wipe away all the red lines that
other presidents voluntarily took.
In another instance, president George W. Bush, before he became president, sold an interest in the Texas Rangers baseball team. So other presidents
have gone out of their way to show that there are no ethical questions around their business activities.
This president has taken a different tack and he's quite open about it. And that may be one of the reasons why, despite years of criticism from
Democrats and public transparency campaigners, that this doesn't seem to have had a terrible political effect on the president's political standing
on the Republican side.
You talk to people at Trump's rallies, for example, people often say, well, he's a rich businessman. And that in some ways recommends him to them
because they believe that he would be a better manager of the economy.
The Democrats have never been able to make these ethical concerns stick as a political matter. Now we're at a moment when many Americans are
struggling to afford rent, groceries, good health care.
Does that now become much more of an issue when there are these headlines of the president making $1 billion in profits?
Certainly the Democrats are going to try and use that in the midterm elections. We will see whether it has any more potency than it has done in
the past.
ANDERSON: One commentator today, Stephen, alluding to the scale and speed of the Trump family's investments during this term, describing them as a
family, I guess, as too big to trail. which is something to ponder, I think, for the media as an entity as well.
The president also today using the new Qatar-gifted Air Force One and the focus of a lot of controversy. I did actually speak to the Qatar PM last
year when this transaction or this gift was announced. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN BIN JASSIM AL THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER: This is a very simple government-to-government dealing.
ANDERSON: We have Republicans and Democrats accusing the president of graft and Qatar of buying influence.
Are you?
AL-THANI: Why would we buy an influence in the United States?
Qatar has been always a reliable partner for the U.S., has been always stepping up to help and to support the U.S. because we believe that this
friendship, needs to be mutually beneficial for both countries. It cannot be a one-way relationship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So both Qatar at the time and president Trump since have dismissed any concerns about what the Qataris describe as a government-to-
government gift of this Boeing 747.
What do you make of all of this?
COLLINSON: Well, I think it gets to the point I was making about brazenness because, in previous times, gifts to presidents had to be all
declared. And they're collected every year by the State Department. And gifts that the first family would like to keep above a certain dollar
amount, which is quite small, they actually have to pay for.
But this is being done completely in the open. It's a $400 million plane, which the White House has taken ownership of. It's supposed to bridge the
gap between the introduction of several new Air Force One planes that are being constructed in the United States and which have been beset by all
sorts of delays.
But, of course, Qatar is a hugely influential part of American foreign policy. Even if there is no favor given to the Qataris by the U.S.
government, people outside the equation might think there is.
And that is always what you talk about when you talk about ethical and conflict of interest concerns. So that is why this is raising a lot of
eyebrows in the United States.
The first time president Trump saw the plane in its new livery last week, he gushed about how luxurious it was. And, you know, it's difficult to see
that any other politician could have got away with that at a time of, you know, economic hardship in the United States.
But I think it just tells us something about the environment that the president has created around himself and around his administration and his
mystique.
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That it doesn't seem to be causing huge political alarms in the White House.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, Stephen. Always a pleasure. Thank you very much indeed.
And I want to move on to a story which has a Qatar dateline, a divine blessing. That is how Iran's chief negotiator is characterizing the
conflict, especially given Tehran's strategic power over the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran now says there can be no further talks with the U.S. unless the conditions laid out in the memorandum of understanding are met, with Iran
pushing for the release of frozen assets.
The MOU top of the agenda, as an Iranian delegation, met Qatar's prime minister today in Doha. He met the U.S. side on Tuesday. A source says U.S.
and Iranian officials are also having indirect discussions through Qatari and Pakistani mediators but those are at a lower level.
Sina Toossi is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. He joins us now from Washington.
I just want to step back for a moment and try and understand exactly what is going on in Doha at present.
Can you just give us a one-two as you see it?
SINA TOOSSI, SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL POLICY: Yes. So what's really been happening since this MOU was reached between the U.S.
and Iran, this MOU, you know, has certain clauses, certain commitments that each side has to make.
And the goal is for this MOU to, over 60 days, result in broader negotiations to get a new nuclear deal with Iran. But right now, we've seen
it hung up in its own clauses and the implementation commitments of each side.
You know, for the Iranians, their issue is that Lebanon hasn't reached a durable peace, resulting in withdrawal of Israeli issues, Israeli soldiers
and forces there. The Strait of Hormuz is obviously still a major tension point.
And so the MOU itself says that these nuclear negotiations that are envisioned, the prerequisite for these negotiations even occurring is these
other clauses of the MOU being met.
So that takes us to Qatar today, where there are a round of talks but they're not over the nuclear issue.
It seems to be over the commitments of the MOU themselves, namely the Lebanon issue, the Hormuz issue and trying to keep the implementation of
this MOU ongoing and actually get it to a properly implementing stage to then allow for broader negotiations.
But that seems to me growing more remote by day, that the fact that the prospect of the U.S. and Iran being able to have more serious nuclear
negotiations and reaching a bigger deal.
ANDERSON: And to that point, Iran's chief negotiator has been quite outspoken, quite explicit, with Iran's perspective.
What red lines is Iran laying out at this point?
TOOSSI: Yes. Well, for Iran, the biggest thing I mean, there's these rival interpretations of the MOU. So the MOU explicitly does state that Iran has
to make the quote-unquote, "arrangements" for transit through Hormuz.
Now the Iranians interpret this as the ships have to go through their designated routes through Hormuz, namely through the northern part of the
strait, whereas the U.S. has been trying to have ships go through the southern part of the strait.
And so this led to the tit-for-tat strikes we've seen over the weekend, where Iran said that it can't, you know, quote-unquote, "guarantee" the
security of ships going through the southern part of the strait.
Some ship, you know, many ships were passing with their AIS (ph) transponders on. A couple of those ships were struck. The U.S. attacked
Iran; Iran hit back at U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. So it's a very volatile situation.
But Ghalibaf, the chief Iranian negotiator, to your question, he said, which is the consistent Iranian position, that this new paradigm over
Hormuz is their new red line, that this is the critical lever that Iran has. And they want to maintain more control of this -- the Strait of Hormuz
after this war, meaning they want ships to pass.
They want them, however, to pass through their designated route and they envision to collect fees. They call them service fees to let these ships
pass.
Now the MOU says they can't collect fees for 60 days but that is it's cut off even in the MOU that the U.S. agreed to. It's just for 60 days they
can't collect fees. So the Iranians, with Oman as the other coastal country, they're trying to create this new reality where they can have
ships pass through certain designated routes and collect fees.
ANDERSON: Yes. And I've heard this fee collection story doing the rounds now, almost since this conflict began. So many people not surprised that
this is where it's landing. Tolls aren't going to work. You know, the international law doesn't allow for that.
So this idea of collecting service fees for, I don't know, tugboats and environmental issues and all the rest.
[10:15:06]
Seems to be where these, you know, where we are landing at this point. Oman laying out a new proposal.
What does it say?
TOOSSI: Well, the Omanis are stuck between a difficult position, I would argue. They are obviously a part of the GCC, this collection of Persian
Gulf Arab countries that is allied with the U.S. Oman itself is an ally of the U.S. But they do share the Strait of Hormuz with Iran as the coastal
country.
Iran, you know, obviously fought this war with the U.S. It changed the kind of geopolitical reality around Hormuz.
And so they're kind of stuck between Iran and its demands and its goals to control the strait more, to collect fees and their alliance with the U.S.
and their alliance with the other Gulf countries and their own security and prosperity and durability.
So Oman is kind of, I would argue, a little bit bent all over the place with their statements. I mean, with the Iranians, they've been meeting, it
seems like they are on board with some kind of fee collecting mechanism.
But on the other hand, they issued a statement with the GCC last week, saying that, no, no fees or tolls of any kind will be collected. So I think
this ultimately shows that Oman is stuck between a difficult -- in a difficult situation.
And I think it's unclear whether they will ultimately be on board with what Iran wants in terms of collecting fees or tolls through the Strait of
Hormuz.
ANDERSON: And then there is whether or not Iran sees the release of frozen assets under the MOU in the immediate future and whether or not sticking
points can be overcome, especially other sticking points, of course, especially within this 60-day deadline. The clock is ticking on that.
Remains to be seen.
It's good to have you. Thank you.
Well, Ukraine strikes key infrastructure deep in Russian territories as NATO touts its long-term support. Kyiv says it's eyeing a 6-9 month window
on the battlefield.
And far away from the football, an underworld of fear and exploitation. We hear from the victims of one of Mexico's most profitable criminal
enterprises and why the World Cup could make things worse.
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ANDERSON: One week since devastating twin earthquakes hit Venezuela, anger now growing as the rescue is being -- about how the rescue is being
handled, as heavy duty equipment sits unused, leaving many Venezuelans to dig through the rubble with their bare hands.
Nearly 2,000 people have sadly been confirmed dead but that death toll is expected to be much higher, with thousands still missing. Journalist Mary
Triny Mena joins us from the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.
Mary, it's good to have you.
Can you just get us up to speed on the latest on the rescue operations firstly?
[10:20:05]
MARY TRINY MENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this rescue operations haven't stopped. They are, of course, struggling with resources. And that is why
many countries have come to Venezuela and they are arriving. They are more than 30 countries bringing equipment, dogs and everything that they could
help.
So, so they, so they can stop -- they can find more people alive. Right now they are concentrated in finding more people. And, of course, there's
anger, there's desperation among families.
That said, the hours are getting longer as the day goes by. Today at 6 pm local time, it would be one week since the two earthquakes struck in
Venezuela. And there are many fronts to deal with.
One, overwhelmed hospitals that are crowded. And they were broken before the earthquakes due to Venezuela's longstanding economic crisis and
political crisis. And also, there are many people displaced. More than 15,000 people.
So right now, families are saying that the figures are higher than the authorities are saying. They say there are a huge number of people
disappeared but the authorities haven't talked about that, the amount of people that is currently disappeared.
ANDERSON: Yes. It's good to have you on the ground. Thank you very much indeed.
That is the very latest, as we understand it, on the ground.
Meantime, Ukraine increasingly trying to take the war onto Russian soil, ramping up large-scale drone attacks. In addition to targeting the
Kremlin's oil refineries, Kyiv says it hit one of Russia's largest satellite communication centers near Moscow. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has
more on Ukraine's expanding drone assault inside Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Hell is still nightly for Ukrainians.
Here are drones slamming into Zaporizhzhya, where strikes killed one, injured five. But again Monday night, while Ukraine was dragging its
injured from the rubble, they fired about 250 more drones back at Russia than were fired at them.
Four hundred 419, 60 of them at Moscow, this video apparently showing the moment a drone impacted, near where Russian officials said a six- month-old
baby was among the two Russian dead that night.
Very few images of the damage to Moscow emerged, where a space communications center was struck in Dubna.
A lot of video actually came from Ukraine's president, flaunting the damage the Kremlin has instructed its law enforcement to hide. Russian city skies
blighted more and more like Ukrainian cities.
And scenes like this devastating attack on a Moscow oil refinery two weeks ago, shattering the sense in the capital of Putin's war of choice being
something far away, that others fought, now forced to admit more times than he would ever like in the last month to the problems Russians already know
about, like gas shortages.
PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIA (through translator): You are well aware that problems persist for both drivers and businesses. It's not always
possible to find the required grade of fuel at present.
WALSH (voice-over): Ukraine released footage Tuesday of drone units who said they had targeted Moscow's specific anti-drone defenses, making the
route to the capital easier.
But it is not just Moscow under pressure. The peninsula of Crimea battered hard. It's isolation, a key Ukrainian goal, achieved through blowing
bridges, trains, roads, blackouts and more gas queues.
The front line, brutal battles remain but the story has changed. Ukraine, less the victim, more the disruptor, hoping to keep Moscow off balance long
enough until it falls -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, a dark side of life in Mexico coming to light as the World Cup brings millions of people, of course, to the country. Human trafficking
for sexual and labor exploitation is one of the most profitable criminal enterprises in Mexico. CNN's Valeria Leon with the story
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You see it in plain view, along busy roads and with little to no oversight. The sex trade in Mexico,
a profitable and sprawling industry, one that's permitted for adults in parts of the country but far too often marred by the illicit trafficking of
victims.
In busy streets of Mexico City, dozens of women, men and children sell their bodies each night, often against their will. It's a deep-rooted
issue, made more visible by the World Cup.
[10:25:00]
And according to many, worsened by the event.
LEON: We've been walking for 10 minutes. It's already 9:20 pm in Mexico City and we've counted more than 30 women in the next five blocks in this
area called Tlalpan, which is one of the main avenues in Mexico City, just a few miles away from the stadium in this Mexican capital.
LEON (voice-over): Survivors and activists say the influx of tourists usually increases the demand for sex tourism, causing criminal groups to
entrap additional victims or increase the burden on existing ones to meet the demand.
KARLA JACINTO, ACTIVIST AND SURVIVOR OF SEX TRAFFICKING (through translator): Today, I think there will be more disappearances, more sexual
abuse, more trafficking and shelters will be full. So we need to be on high alert regarding prevention.
LEON (voice-over): Karla Jacinto is an activist and sex trafficking survivor. Between the ages of 12 and 16, she says she was raped tens of
thousands of times by clients across Mexico. She shares her story in hopes of preventing others from suffering the same fate.
JACINTO (through translator): They assaulted me, I cried, screamed, I begged for help and nobody listened to me until it got to the point where
my feelings started to shut down.
LEON (voice-over): Karla now works with Fundacion Libera Mexico, an organization that combats human trafficking. It runs a shelter that helps
more than a dozen trafficking victims reveal their lives. Most of the survivors here are minors, who by some estimates account for roughly 40
percent of these victims.
According to official figures, over 7000 human trafficking victims were reported across the country from 2017 to 2025. But cases are vastly
underreported, according to activists.
In fact, just around 2 percent of victims actually file complaints. That's according to the Citizens' Council for Security and Justice in Mexico City,
an organization that runs the national hotline for reporting cases. Calls can come from almost anywhere, including the U.S.
GABRIELA GONZALEZ GARCIA, CITIZEN COUNCIL FOR SECURITY AND JUSTICE OF MEXICO CITY (through translator): It is one of the three most lucrative
crimes internationally, after drug and arms trafficking, because a person can be exploited indefinitely.
LEON (voice-over): The program's director explained why the crime is so prevalent. And it's not just sex that people are trafficked for.
An activist at Libera, who calls herself "Zunduri," though that's not her real name, was among those exploited for labor. She says she was forced to
work long hours in a dry-cleaning business while being denied food, sleep and medical care and eventually kept chained for six months.
"ZUNDURI," ACTIVIST AND LABOR TRAFFICKING SURVIVOR (through translator): After three years, I had accumulated fatigue and exhaustion. There were
many blows. I had bruises on my hands and almost all over my body.
LEON (voice-over): Traffickers commonly ensnare victims through deception and today they're increasingly using digital tools for recruitment.
DANIELA TAPIA, CO-FOUNDER, FUNDACION LIBERA MEXICO (through translator): With the new capture methods that are social networks, a single person can
have 100 or, with a chatbot, 200 open conversations at the same time, which means that a trafficker who previously captured one victim in three months
can capture 50 victims in a week.
LEON (voice-over): Many victims end up in places like Mexico City's red- light districts. But not everyone here is being trafficked. Some claim they are here by choice, like this worker who agreed to speak with CNN without
showing her face for safety and described the risk she and others face in their line of work.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Clients come drunk or then they try to treat you however they want. Or here, well, they might try to rob
you or try to grab you.
LEON (voice-over): Some skeptics say there's not enough data linking mass events to more trafficking but rights groups counter that governments do
too little to track a problem that makes them look bad. However, activists hope the World Cup Awareness Campaign will incentivize people to denounce
trafficking and help victims regain their freedom.
Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Right. I just want to get you some breaking news coming into CNN Center from Belgium.
Antwerp police say at least five people have died in a fire that broke out today in a 10-story apartment building. Many are said to be injured. The
fire started mid-morning and all of the building's residents were evacuated.
[10:30:00]
Officials say the size and the intensity of that blaze made it difficult to extinguish. The cause is under investigation and we will continue to follow
this and bring you updates as we get them.
And we will take a quick break at this point. Back after this.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) CONNECT THE WORLD from our Middle East programming headquarters, I'm Becky Anderson. Here are your headlines.
A newly released financial disclosure by U.S. president Donald Trump shows he made billions of dollars in business dealings in his first year back in
office. The biggest chunk of that, more than $ 1 billion came from crypto ventures. The White House says none of the president's business ventures
pose a conflict of interest.
Well, Venezuelans are digging through the rubble with their bare hands at times in a bid to find survivors after last week's devastating twin
earthquakes. Heavy duty equipment stands idle due to a lack of fuel in the oil-rich country as the death toll approaches 2,000, with thousands more
still missing.
Well, Iran is laying out its demands after a day of diplomacy in Doha. Tehran says it is critical that the conditions laid out in the memorandum
of understanding are implemented. It has been pushing for the release of frozen assets as part of that agreement.
ANDERSON: Well, it is official. Mexico have booked their spot in the last 16 of the World Cup. Co-host Mexico cruised past Ecuador with two first
half goals.
Absolute blinder. And Mexico celebrating their first knockout stage win for 40 years.
And this is the scene in Mexico City, the capital. They'll host the winner of today's first game in the next round, either the Three Lions of England
or the Leopards of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Belgium face Senegal and the U.S. take on Bosnia and Herzegovina later today. Well, Marcus Speller is presenter of The Football Ramble podcast and
he joins us live from London.
Marcus, it's good to have you back. You and I chatted before the start of this tournament. It's been an absolute cracker to date. And before we get
to the matches today, I do want to talk about the other matches today. I want to talk about one game that you and I care enormously about. It's
England versus the D.R. Congo.
We all love the game. We all just want, at this point, those of us who are supporting England, for this team to just get through, right?
MARCUS SPELLER, PODCAST HOST, THE FOOTBALL RAMBLE: Yes. I mean, that's what Thomas Tuchel said, didn't he. He said don't expect a particularly
flashy performance.
[10:35:03]
Let's just get this done. And you thought, OK, it's going to be one of those afternoons for us in England. It's a 5 pm kickoff here. British
summertime.
So yes, I think we all look at France and we see the way France have been playing. They are brilliant, swashbuckling, marvelous goals, big wins. And
we think please, just a little bit of that.
But as you reminded us, Becky, we are England and we tend not to be too flashy about it. I would be happy with any victory today, to be quite
frank, to set up a tie against Mexico in the Azteca stadium. So yes. England. It's not an easy game. This against the Congo. But England are
heavy favorites, though.
ANDERSON: Yes. Last 16, if England make it, as you say, at the cathedral of football, the Azteca stadium in Mexico, I've been. It is amazing. It is
overwhelming. It is intimidating. It is at a height. You know, it's really high up, so it's difficult to breathe up there.
it will be an interesting game if they make it through to the last 16. D.R, Congo, as you say, are not a bad team. So we're going to have to work
through this one.
You host a podcast, The Football Ramble, which I love.
What have you and your co-hosts have been particularly surprised about in this tournament?
For example, for me, I -- you know, I think the Paraguay win over Germany was, you know, an exceptional result for the South Americans.
What have you been talking about?
SPELLER: Well, I mean, blimey, it's hard to -- it's hard to cut it down to just one. I mean Paraguay. Yes. I mean the very good one. They were beaten
4-1 by the U.S. in their opening game. And then they got -- let's call it a convenient 0-0 draw with Australia.
I didn't think they would put out multiple champions Germany. Although Germany, my goodness, they've got, a lot of thinking to do because German
football at the moment on an international stage, I've never seen anything like it.
I think that one thing that I would say is the 48-team format, we thought, are you going to see some of these teams that are not used to playing at
the World Cup turn up and get absolutely hammered?
No, we've not seen that. D.R. Congo, they haven't been at the World Cup for decades. They're in the next round. Cape Verde, what a story. What a story.
They're in the next round as well.
You have some of these teams, as I say, who are not used to being at the World Cup or haven't been there for many, many years. So many of them are
through to the next round.
I mean, look at Norway. I know they boast two world class players and a decent squad but they haven't won the World Cup since 1998. But there's
something you can always hang your hat on and it will be, whatever happens, Scotland will not get past the first round of the World Cup. So no
surprises.
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: Yes, first time I remember Scotland playing in the World Cup was '78. I'm old enough to remember that, didn't go very far in that one. And
it's been sort of, you know, problematic since then.
My dad's Scottish. So we always try and give them some support in those opening -- in the opening round. And also, yes, I mean, you know, the
German team, it's like, as an international team, you know, it's been a shocker really.
And I, you know, let's see what happens, you know, with the coach and with the team going forward because it's very, very unexpected. Although it was
flagged but I still didn't expect to see it.
Look, let's talk about Mbappe. Six goals, two assists in four matches. He is -- you know people are questioning, is he man or machine at this point.
And you've talked about how good France are.
Do you see them going all the way?
SPELLER: Yes, I do, I think that, I still, I still think -- I said to you before the tournament, I remember saying, I think why not fancy England for
the World Cup?
No, I'm less confident about that now. But you know, England are still in it. They've got a chance. Brazil's Ancelotti don't look great. But somehow
Ancelotti just gets a tune out of them and gets them over the line. And Messi still the best player at 39.
So I don't know if France will win it. I think they'll be in the final, though. I think Spain haven't convinced yet. Portugal are in that side of
the draw, I would fancy -- I mean look the smart money's on France right now.
Not only are they winning games, they're winning them with such ease and style and they look like they're fresh. I mean that's the problem for
England at the end of a long Premier League season. Most of the England team play in the Premier League. Not all but most.
You know, they've got tired legs in there and you've got to pace yourself. France, as we saw ahead of the Champions League final with PSG, a number of
their players are in there, they can rest players throughout the league season.
I mean, the -- you know, the minutes that Desiree Due (ph), for example, has played. He's about 2.5 elzaminutes (ph). We love minutes rather than
matches these days and stats. But there we are.
Whereas Morgan Rodgers himself has played about 4,000-odd as most of the England players have, you know, often twice the amount of some of the
French players.
So yes, not only do they look great, do they play great football, they look fresh and they also look like they're having a great time as well. The
camaraderie, the confidence, yes. It's hard to make an argument to say that France won't win this World Cup. But look, it's the World Cup. Anything can
happen.
[10:40:00]
ANDERSON: Yes. And we're also 1.5 hours away from kickoff in that England game. And of course, you know, we're all underplaying it. I think at this
point nobody's singing. It's coming home at this point. It's just like -- it's just keep going at this point.
It's good to have you. Yes, wouldn't it just.
(CROSSTALK)
SPELLER: -- Becky, pleasure.
ANDERSON: It's always good to have you, mate. Thank you very much indeed. Cheers.
Well, still to come a showdown over the future of AI. And now a major reversal. After a tense back and forth with Washington, Anthropic is
getting the green light to bring its most advanced models back online. More on that after this.
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ANDERSON: Several powerful AI models will now be available globally again. Anthropic announcing that the White House has now lifted controls on its
Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models.
You may recall just last month, the U.S. Commerce Department issued an export ban that forced Anthropic to suspend all use of these models by
foreign nations, including, let me tell you, Anthropic's own employees. CNN's Anna Stewart covering the very latest developments from London. And
she joins us now.
Let's just, for those who, you know, aren't, aren't as up to speed on this as you might be, at the time the ban was put in place, the U.S. government
had cited security concerns.
So what's changed, do you think, and why the reversal now and why is this important?
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. Well, essentially what's happened is Anthropic has found a patch, as it will, for what was a big security issue
that had the U.S. government very worried.
Now shortly after Fable 5 was released -- and it's very similar to Mythos 5 but that one has less guardrails and is more for government entities and
enterprise -- Fable 5 is more for your everyday person who signs up to Anthropic.
Now the vulnerability that was found by Amazon, in fact, a so-called jailbreak, enabled you to bypass the guardrails, if you will. And this
model was able to identify software vulnerabilities and demonstrate how you could exploit those.
So definitely not what the model is supposed to do. And
so the concern was that, if you could bypass those guardrails, what else could happen with both Fable 5 and Mythos 5?
What, you know, what would happen?
So a patch has been identified, which means that the U.S. government is clearly happy that that has been sorted. That OK for this now to have
export controls lifted.
The question though, for Anthropic and lots of other AI companies is, where do we go from here?
Because lots of these models can be jailbroken. In fact, Anthropic says that it's almost impossible -- it probably is impossible to release any
model that has literally no jailbreaks whatsoever. If people try hard enough, they probably will be able to find one.
The question is what do they do with that?
With this security vulnerability, is there a way of working with the government or creating an industry standard?
[10:45:00]
Which is what they're looking to do with other businesses to identify, OK, this model can do X, Y and Z. This is the security breach we have
discovered.
Is that serious enough to raise the U.S. government?
Is this something that needs to be to be flagged to higher powers?
Because in this situation, they released a model and within 2-3 days, you know, it was off. It couldn't be used not only outside of the U.S. It
couldn't be used in the U.S. and, as you said, even foreign nationals working for Anthropic, who could have hoped that they could have helped fix
the issue, were not able to use it, either.
ANDERSON: Anthropic had to disable customer access to its most advanced models during this back-and-forth with the Trump administration.
So what does this reversal mean for the company?
And I think, importantly, for the broader AI race at this point?
STEWART: Well, it's clearly, particularly for U.S. companies developing powerful models, so we're looking at, you know, OpenAI and Anthropic.
The issue here is what are the standards they need to meet and will regulations start to stifle innovation?
The U.S. administration has been one that initially was saying they were going to be very light touch and regulation with AI because they want the
U.S. to lead with these models. Clearly they're having to slightly reverse that because they are so concerned about security.
But the AI race isn't just being held in the United States, of course. There may be more regulation for the models that are based over there.
But what about models that are being developed in other parts of the world by other superpowers, for instance, China?
What is the U.S. going to be able to do about those?
And there really isn't really an answer for that. And all these models, as I say, can be jailbroken. It is believed there is no 100 percent secure AI
and they are getting way more powerful.
ANDERSON: So interesting. Good to have you. Thank you very much indeed.
That is your AI moment for the day.
A major plot twist has emerged in the mega media merger that is gripping Hollywood and beyond. Paramount Skydance's $110 billion acquisition of
Warner Bros. Discovery, which, of course, owns CNN, has been cleared by U.S. regulatory hurdles.
Last month, it was thought that that meant pretty much that the deal was well on its way to finalization. But now we are hearing about a possible
intervention by the British government. Let's bring in our chief media analyst, Brian Stelter. And again, caveat: CNN, of course, involved in all
of this because it's owned by WBD.
So tell us more about exactly what's going on -- this is the U.K. government here -- and what this might mean for this deal.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: That's right. Now that the U.S. and China and other markets have given the green light for Paramount to
swallow up Warner Bros. Discovery, there are really three wild cards remaining.
One is in the E.U. The European Commission and all indications -- and as recently as this morning -- are that the E.U. is going to go ahead and give
the green light as well. So that leaves two big question marks. And one is in the U.K.
And that's the really interesting question mark right now. The British culture minister, Lisa Nandy, has announced that she is minded to
intervene. Now translating that for a moment, that means she is going to direct Ofcom to open an investigation unless something unexpected happens
in the next week.
And for some reason unless Paramount is able to persuade her not to, she is going to direct her -- direct the Ofcom media regulators to go ahead and
investigate in July.
Now this could mean that it would delay Paramount's takeover of WBD for at least a period of weeks, maybe even months. Paramount has said all along
that it wants to close and complete this deal by the end of September and it is financially incentivized to do so because the deal gets more
expensive starting in October.
So that's why the U.K. wild card really matters. And by the way, there's one other wild card in the United States. That is a coalition of state
attorneys general who are pursuing plans to probably sue and block the deal. It's not official yet. They have not actually filed suit.
But every indication I have from sources is that they are likely to file suit in the coming weeks. So you have two cases here, one in the U.K. and
then a group of Democratic state attorneys general in the U.S., both positioned to at least slow this deal down. Unclear if they can stop it
altogether but maybe slow this deal down.
ANDERSON: It's fascinating. Earlier this week, you and I talked about the NBC Comcast or Comcast NBC Universal announcement.
Is there a broader trend that we are going to see in the media space around streaming?
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ANDERSON: What's going on?
Yes. I mean, how much of this is AI driven and --
STELTER: -- partly as a new generation of ownership. You know, a new generation of owners, some in some cases coming in with giant billions of
technology money.
[10:50:04]
Right. That's part the Paramount deal. It's partly about Larry Ellison's son, David, so the Oracle billionaire's son, creating a media empire for
himself. With regards to Comcast, we're going to find out if this is about generational change or not. It looks like it probably is.
Comcast and NBC Universal splitting up and creating a situation where one or both sides of the house can be bought up by a new generation of
ownership. Right now, though, both sides of the house are controlled by the Roberts family, based in Philadelphia.
So we will see. But I do think that the broader trend is about a new generation. In some cases, technology money coming into the media sector.
And when it comes to Paramount in this deal, it comes to Comcast, the question is always about whether the president, whether the Trump
administration, whether president Trump is going to get personally involved.
We've seen time and time again Trump get personally involved in deals, in some cases, greenlighting deals; in other cases, maybe delaying them.
But I think what we might be seeing right now is the reverse, meaning president Trump and the Trump administration gave the OK to Paramount.
Well, that might be influencing the U.K. to tap the brakes, right?
For every action, there is a reaction. And many of the critics of the Paramount deal have hoped that the U.K. would tap the brakes and slow this
thing down. That might be what's happening now. In other words, when Trump gives the green light, it causes others to look for a red light.
You know what I mean?
ANDERSON: Yes. No, no, you're making a very good point. Well, we will see. Always good to have you. Thank you.
Well, it's a love story, baby, just say yes. But beyond that, no one is saying very much at all. Still to come, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's
wedding details are being kept firmly under wraps. But rumor has it that the celebrations kick off this week.
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ANDERSON: Welcome to New York, where something big is clearly happening but almost no one is talking about it. Well, they're not talking. They
might be talking about it but they're not talking in what's shaping up to be the celebrity wedding of the year, maybe even the century.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are getting ready to tie the knot. We know that, it's at Madison Square Garden, according to our sources. The
celebrations, rumored to be kicking off Thursday with what's being called a rehearsal event in Manhattan. Of course, no official confirmation.
But there are signs like this, CNN cameras capturing crews Tuesday, wearing shirts that read Taylor Swift's Carpenters. CNN's Gloria Pazmino live in
New York, outside Madison Square Garden.
So Gloria, so much secrecy. And there's still a chance those guys in Carpenters shirts could be trolling us.
So what do we know about this wedding and it's where it's going to be and what's going on?
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, Becky, I think, as with all things Taylor Swift, we have to proceed with caution. You know, she is
known for dropping little hints or trying to fake out her fans. And we have been trying to be careful about reporting the plans because of that history
that Taylor Swift has.
But we do know from our sources familiar with the plans that these two events are set to happen Thursday and Friday.
[10:55:03]
Thursday, what is being described to us as a rehearsal, a smaller party for about 100 guests and that will be followed by a much larger event scheduled
for Friday, which is expected to have about 1,000 guests.
Now this is all expected to happen inside Madison Square Garden behind me. You can see over the past day or so, we have spotted a lot of activity. I
think we have some of the video showing, you know, equipment being moved in and out of the loading docks.
You mentioned the worker with the Taylor Swift Carpenters T-shirt. That certainly sent alarm bells going through the air, you know, wondering if
this was actually real confirmation finally.
But as we know right now, this is expected to happen Thursday and Friday. You talked about this being the wedding of the century. I think that's
usually a term that we reserve for royal weddings.
As you know, Becky, we don't have royals here in the United States but we have celebrities. And this is certainly shaping up to be like a royal
wedding. Certainly American royalty, Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift, tying the knot, marrying her lover. A love story. Welcome to New York.
So a very busy few days expected at this already busy intersection.
ANDERSON: Yes. I just love the idea that they try -- if they're trying to keep something in secret, you do it in the middle of New York. It's like,
you know, at Madison Square Garden, it's like, what?
Anyway. All good. Thank you.
And that is it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.
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