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U.N. Warns of Impending Famine Across Gaza; Fertility Clinic Bombing; Authorities: Suspect Identified in Fertility Clinic Bombing; Bessent: How Did Biden Administration "Allow this to Happen"; Scottie Scheffler Wins PGA Championship. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired May 19, 2025 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, this is the scene at the border between Israel and Gaza, where the IDF has launched an extensive

ground operation. Just as Benjamin Netanyahu says, Israel will take control of the entire Gaza Strip. It's 04:00 p.m. there on the border, it is 05:00

p.m. here in Abu Dhabi.

I'm Becky Anderson. This is "Connect the World" from your Middle East Programming Headquarters. Also coming up. President Trump expected to speak

to the Russian President Vladimir Putin later today, looking for a breakthrough in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

And Former President Biden announces he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now, and

if the futures markets are anything to go by, we are looking at a weaker opening and Moody's downgrade on U.S. debt Friday certainly won't be doing

investor sentiment any favors in a period of high borrowing costs.

They have reduced the rating to AA1 from AAA. More on that at 09:30 Eastern time. Well, we are waiting what could be a pivotal chance for peace in

Ukraine. Donald Trump set to speak by phone with the Russian President Vladimir Putin. That call expected to happen very soon.

And the U.S. President says after that he is planning a conversation with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Well, hang over these crucial

phone calls today a blatant snub by Mr. Putin, who stood up Zelenskyy for talks in Turkey last week. And a torrent of devastating Russian strikes

over the weekend, mainly targeting Ukraine's Kyiv region.

It was Russia's largest drone attack since the start of its full-scale invasion in 2022. Well, CNN's Kylie Atwood monitoring this for us from the

State Department. Kylie, Russia launching this massive drone strike just before this call between the Russian President and Donald Trump.

What's the feeling there at the State Department about the chances at this point of any movement or success?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, when you speak to State Department officials at the working level, they reiterate what

they've been saying for the last few years, which is that President Putin's actions on the battlefield indicate no receptiveness, no willingness, no

desire to actually clinch a ceasefire between the two sides. And that was crystal clear, according to those officials, when you saw what happened

over the weekend, these this assault on Ukraine only continues

And President Putin himself has not obviously engaged in any ceasefire talks. But when you look at what the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio is

saying, he is now mirroring President Trump and saying that the way for a breakthrough here is for a conversation between Putin and Trump, because

effectively, that is the only way that the Russian leader is going to actually potentially push the ball forward here and not be in this in limbo

space where the United States continues trying to push forward a ceasefire effort but has been unable to.

So, the Secretary of State making it clear when he spoke over the weekend that there are some sanctions packages on the Hill that would obviously go

into effect if these efforts aren't effective, though they're making it very clear that they're ready to walk away from the table.

But I think there are questions about how legitimate those threats are, given we have heard from U.S. officials over the last few months here that

they were going to walk away from the table if negotiations didn't go anywhere. Now, negotiations haven't gone anywhere, but it is Trump and

Putin who are hopping on a call to try and revive these efforts.

ANDERSON: Well, that is scheduled, as we understand it, for the next hour. As soon as we get any information on that, of course, our viewers will get

it here on CNN. Kylie for the time being. Thank you very much indeed.

ATWOOD: Yeah.

ANDERSON: More than 100 people have been killed in intense overnight air strikes in Gaza, according to health officials there. They say the last

functioning hospital in the north has now closed alongside the strikes. Israel has launched an extensive new ground operation called Gideon's

chariots.

Israel says it will allow a basic amount of food to enter Gaza, saying that a hunger crisis would jeopardize the operation. When you are looking at the

first aid trucks bound for Gaza in 11 weeks. The U.N. is warning once again, of an all-out famine with its humanitarian representative recently

making this impassioned plea at the U.N. Security Council.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM FLETCHER, U.N. UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: So, for those killed and those whose voices are silenced, what more evidence do

you need now?

[09:05:00]

Will you act decisively to prevent genocide and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law? Or will you say instead that we did all we

could?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, that's Tom Fletcher speaking at the U.N. last week. Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem. That speech at the U.N. has really resonated, not

just for agencies and humanitarian workers, but really, certainly around this region and beyond. Let's focus first on Israel's new offensive, if we

can, what does that look like, and what do they say they are trying to achieve at this point?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, in just the first couple of days of this offensive, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed as the

Israeli military opens the next chapter of its war in Gaza, and what could perhaps be one of the deadliest chapters of this war.

As we have already seen over the course of the last 48 to 72 hours, as the Israeli military ramped up its strikes and then also pushed tens of

thousands of troops, five divisions of troops were told into the Gaza Strip. We have seen today that the Israeli military is now ordering the

evacuation of the Khan Yunis governorate, where hundreds of thousands of people currently live.

And so, we are once again seeing this kind of combination of deadly air and artillery strikes, the movement of ground troops and the massive

displacement of Palestinians. The Israeli military, of course, says that it is urging Palestinians to move out of these areas for their own protection.

We have seen, of course, time and again, how these evacuation orders are often far from perfect. And we also know that at this stage in the war,

many Palestinians are choosing not to heed these warnings, because they have seen as they and their families have fled to other areas, only to be

struck by the military there as well.

We also saw this morning, a what appears to have been a special operations raid carried out by Israeli forces killing a Hamas commander in the City of

Khan Yunis. That commander's wife and children were also then detained and hauled away by the Israeli military, according to residents on the ground.

But make no mistake, the Israeli Prime Minister has said what this overarching operation is all about. As recently as today, in a video posted

to his social media, he said that the Israeli military's goal now will not be to conduct limited raids inside of the Gaza Strip to try and push Hamas

out of certain territory, but instead to conquer all of Gaza and to occupy it for the foreseeable future, Becky.

ANDERSON: So, what does that mean in terms of this new aid operation? Aid is being allowed in for the first time in 11 weeks. I mean, there will be

those who will argue that there is that is just not enough, given the recent warnings about the U.N. -- from the U.N., about the widespread risk

of famine.

So, what do we know at this point about what is getting in and how and for how long?

DIAMOND: Well, the Israeli Prime Minister is emphasizing that this will only be a very basic and minimal amount of humanitarian aid that will be

brought into the Gaza Strip this week. We still don't know exactly how many trucks per day will be allowed or for how long those trucks will be allowed

to feed the people of Gaza.

We know, of course, how enormous the need is, as you heard in those warnings from Tom Fletcher, the United Nations Emergency Relief Chief. What

is also clear is that this is being done kind of for two reasons. First of all, as the prime minister said, because of rising international criticism

and concern that Israel could lose support, even among its allies, for this new offensive.

Secondly, in order to alleviate the immediate humanitarian conditions before this new aid mechanism, which has been approved by Israel and the

United States, actually becomes operational later this month. I actually spoke with the head of that new humanitarian organization, the Gaza

Humanitarian Foundation, which will run this new kind of Israeli-U.S. approved aid mechanism.

And he had urged the Israeli government last week to allow aid in through the normal channels immediately before his new operation gets up and

running later this month, and that is what appears to be happening. Again, the question is, will enough gets in for the enormous needs of Gaza

civilian population?

ANDERSON: We know that Donald Trump in region last week has certainly encouraged further mediation, more momentum for mediation, as far as

ceasefire and hostage talks are concerned. And we know there are teams in Doha, but how are those talks going?

[09:10:00]

Do we have any idea at this point, whether we are any closer at this point to a ceasefire on hostage deal?

DIAMOND: It's really hard to tell, Becky, at this stage. What we do know is that the parties are at least continuing to speak. The Israelis certainly

feel like launching this operation, combined with the pressure that they have brought to bear in recent weeks will help and be conducive to a deal.

We also know that the Israelis have now acknowledged that they are discussing not just the Witkoff plan, as it has become known, which would

be the release of about half of the living hostages for, you know, a month or two month ceasefire, but rather that the Israelis are now at least

entertaining the idea and entertaining discussions about a broader deal, which would involve the release of all the hostages and an end to the war.

But of course, we know that the likelihood of them actually reaching such a deal in the immediate term, at least, seems quite low, given the fact that

Israel is continuing to insist on Hamas completely disarming, being completely removed from power in Gaza. In addition to releasing the

hostages in exchange for an end to the war.

Hamas has drawn a red line as it relates to anything that would involve them disarming and giving up total power in the Gaza Strip in exchange for

an end of the war. So, look, the differences between these two sides are still vast. What's important to know is that beyond the discussions that

are actually happening in Doha, Qatar.

We know that there are also discussions happening on the phone at the very highest levels, with the Israeli Prime Minister having been on the phone

numerous times with President Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

And we know, of course, that there are also conversations happening between Hamas officials and other U.S. government intermediaries directly. So, this

is happening at a variety of levels, with an intensity that we have not seen in quite some time, but still very hard to know whether or not they

will actually be able to strike a deal here.

ANDERSON: Yeah, you know, it's good to have you Jeremy, thank you very much indeed. Jeremy is in Jerusalem. Former U.S. President Joe Biden now

publicly addressing his prostate cancer diagnosis. He wrote an X, a short time ago that cancer touches us all, like so many of you, Jill and I, have

learned that we are strongest in the broken places.

Thank you for lifting us up with love and support. Well, his office announced Sunday that Biden's cancer has spread to his bones, and the

former president, who is 82 years old, is reviewing treatment options. Well, let's get you to Arlette Saenz who's following this story for us from

Washington.

It's good to have you. What more are you hearing from Biden's team about his diagnosis and his treatment plan?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Becky, Former President Joe Biden spent the weekend at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, as he and his family

are still working through what the treatment options might look like. Biden was diagnosed on Friday with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has

spread to his bones now.

Last Monday was when we first learned that Biden was being evaluated for a small nodule that was found in his prostate. A statement from his personal

office yesterday said that the president had been experiencing increased urinary symptoms and then ultimately received that diagnosis on Friday,

which is actually two weeks before the Biden family was set to mark the 10- year anniversary of his son, Beau Biden from brain cancer.

Now they are still trying to work with their doctors to decide what kind of treatment he will pursue, but there have been things floated by medical

experts, such as hormone therapy, chemotherapy as well as radiation, but all of this news about the president's -- former president's cancer

diagnosis comes as questions about his physical and mental health capacity while in office have risen back to the spotlight.

Our colleague Jake Tapper and "AXIOS" Reporter Alex Thompson are about to roll out a new book which details some signs of decline that were seen in

Biden, both physical and mental, as he was finishing out his years in the White House. So certainly, this comes at a challenging time for Biden's

legacy, which is once again under scrutiny, but also that personal dynamic for the family that has experienced so much loss and much connection to

cancer as well over there more than five decades in public life.

ANDERSON: Arlette, thank you. Still to come on CNN and get more on this story with a look at possible treatment options. And authorities in

California say they have identified the suspect in the bombing outside a fertility clinic in Palm Springs. Details on that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

ANDERSON: Former U.S. President Joe Biden weighing his treatment options after revealing that he has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of

prostate cancer, a cancer that has spread to his bones. According to a statement from his personal office, the diagnosis came after he was

evaluated for a small nodule found on his prostate.

Well, his office saying, while this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone sensitive, which does allow

for effective management. Well, Dr. Curtiland Deville is a radiation oncologist and joins us now for his perspective on Biden's diagnosis.

Dr. Deville is not treating the former president. I have to add. It's good to have you, sir, as a medical professional, what is your take on Biden's

diagnosis, and given the information that is publicly available, what would be your prognosis at this point?

DR. CURTILAND DEVILLE, MEDICAL DIRECTOR OF JOHNS HOPKINS PROTON THERAPY CENTER: Well, thanks for having me. And you know I would say my take is

that this is actually a common scenario that I might see men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer at this age. They may have stopped prostate

cancer screening, given that the guidelines talk about stopping after age 70, or having a conversation with the physician and the patient and

deciding on whether to continue screening.

So very often, if they are being diagnosed, they may be presenting with some symptoms, as was mentioned, some urinary symptoms or things local to

the prostate, which eventually leads to the workup and the diagnosis. And unfortunately, it's often advanced in this scenario.

The treatments then would be usually hormonal therapy based, you know, prostate cancer generally responds to manipulation or suppression of the

male hormone testosterone. And so, the treatments that we have are very effective at immediately halting and slowing down the progression and

delaying the spread of the cancer.

ANDERSON: Is this a common treatment for prostate cancer, particularly for someone of President Biden's age?

DEVILLE: It is quite common any man with advanced, what we call locally advanced, or metastatic prostate cancer generally, is going to receive

these treatments. There, we think of them as kind of first line and second line. So, there's a standard therapy that may be a pill or an injection

that they get periodically, every few months.

There's increased evidence over the past few years that when we add a second line hormonal agent up front, that those men live longer and you

delay, you know the spread, and so likely that would be the type of combination treatment that he might receive, or someone in this situation

might receive.

They may also consider additional treatments, such as a radiation of things to control if there are symptoms locally, or just to control the local

disease within the prostate or even some of the spread to the bone. So, there would be the multidisciplinary team of the medical oncologist,

radiation oncologist, urologist, and other team members you know would discuss and come up with the best treatment plan to control the disease,

but also ensure good quality of life and function.

[09:20:00]

ANDERSON: Understood. How often should men of President Biden's age be screened? I mean, could this have been found sooner?

DEVILLE: Yeah, this is the inherent challenge in that, you know, screening guidelines, generally, we do have an end to screening given if we think

about things like life expectancy and sort of the risks and benefits of pursuing screening, and not just the PSA blood test screening, which can

seem simple, but it's all of the additional testing that ensues, imaging, MRI biopsies, all of these things may carry risks.

There is some invasiveness, and so we have to sort of balance that. And so again, most many guidelines talk about over the age of 70, that one would

consider to reduce or stop screening, unless the person has certain risk factors, family history, they were having symptoms, they had an elevated

PSA, they may continue.

And so, it is a challenge in the setting about when to stop and when to continue. The risk, and the downside is that there are cases such as this

where the patient is living longer and unfortunately, will be diagnosed with the disease at a metastatic state, when the outcomes are not as good

as when it's caught early on, at a very early stage.

ANDERSON: Sure. Good to have you, sir. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.

DEVILLE: Thank you.

ANDERSON: Well police have now identified the suspect in the bombing outside of fertility clinic in Palm Springs in California. Authorities say

25-year-old guy Bartkus is the suspected bomber and they believe he died in the blast. They say the suspect left behind an anti-prolife manifesto and

was attempting to live stream the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AKIL DAVIS, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE AT LOS ANGELES: The subject had nihilistic ideations, and this was a targeted attack against the IDF

facility. Make no mistake, we are treating this, as I said yesterday, as an intentional act of terrorism. We are able to save all of the embryos at

this facility. Good guys, one. Bad guys, zero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well CNN's Security Correspondent Josh Campbell following developments for us. He joins us now. I'm getting more information on the

suspect and the possible motive behind this attack. What do we know at this point? What is the condition of those who were injured because there were

injuries in this blast?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, thankfully, the four people that were injured have been released from hospital. So, the only

fatality that we're learning about in this incident was the suspect himself, and we're learning more details about him from officials, as well

as from sources.

As you mentioned, he's 25-year-old guy Bartkus said he lived about an hour away from Palm Springs. The FBI said that he was not on their radar before

this incident, but they believe that he was the person that conducted this explosion at this IVF facility on Saturday morning, just rocking parts of

Downtown Palm Springs that could be heard for many, many kilometers away.

Now, I'm learning from a law enforcement source that authorities are aware of this rambling audio recording that was posted by someone that was

describing his anti IVF beliefs in vitro fertilization, saying that he was anti life. It was just a collection of various different grievances that

certain parts incoherent.

Law enforcement says they're looking into whether -- health issues may have been a factor here, but something that certainly struck this community. So,

authorities continue to dig into him, but they also have this massive crime scene that they are still processing at this hour. Take a listen here to

the top FBI agent here in Los Angeles describing this massive blast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIS: This is probably the largest bombing scene that we've had in Southern California. This does eclipse the bombing matter in Aliso Viejo.

It's that big. And just for reference, to throw pieces of vehicle hundreds of feet in the air and then several blocks away, you can use you imagine.

Imagine how big that bomb device was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, we don't often get to talk about good news in these types of situations, but last night, the police chief in Palm Springs took to social

media honoring first responders who rushed into that bomb building. They say that because of their quick work getting electricity back up online,

all of those embryos were saved, Becky.

ANDERSON: And briefly, Josh, have authorities spoken to whether they believe the suspect was in any way motivated by the sort of current kind of

atmosphere around the whole sort of pro-life narrative?

CAMPBELL: That is certainly something that they're looking into. They say that they're aware of this audio recording. They also describe a manifesto

that was allegedly posted online by this individual.

[09:25:00]

And so, they're certainly looking to see whether that was a motivating factor. As you mentioned all the recent political debate here in the United

States regarding in vitro fertilization. But they say right as of right now, they don't yet know exactly what motivated this person.

They're also trying to determine did he have any associates? Obviously, with the internet, you know, it's a wonderful thing, but it also can bring

together people with warped mindsets, and so they're trying to determine whether this was someone who was communicating with others, whether he

acted alone. That part of the investigation very much underway.

ANDERSON: Yeah. I mean, the images are remarkable.

CAMPBELL: Yeah.

ANDERSON: We're just showing the debris and damage to that clinic now. Josh, good to have you. Thank you.

CAMPBELL: Thank you.

ANDERSON: Well still to come temporary relief in the U.S.-China trade war. But even after both countries agreed to slash sky high tariffs for 90 days,

American consumers are still paying the price. We'll explain why and how, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

before half past nine in New York, the bell will ring the trading day in about a minute from now. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is sending

out a start warning to America's trade partners if a good faith deal isn't made with the U.S.

Tariff rates could soon be ratcheted back up to April the second level, so called Liberation Day levels. Bessent tell CNN, there are 18 quote,

important trading partners that the U.S. is most focused on in solidifying deals. Well, just last week, U.S. and China agreed to slash tariffs on each

other's goods for 90 days while negotiations continue.

But even that hasn't spared Americans from some price hikes. Let's bring in Matt Egan. Got the very latest view from New York. And U.S. tariffs on

China were reduced from 145 to 30 percent while a long-term agreement is sort of worked on.

[09:30:00]

One assumes that would have consumers thinking there would have relief insights. But your reporting suggests that's not necessarily the case. Just

explain.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, that's right, Becky. I mean, look, tariffs have come down from their ridiculously high levels, but make no mistake.

They are still very high, much higher than the start of the year. And yes, economists, the Federal Reserve investors, continue to warn that they will

be inflationary.

And so that's why there's this new survey from the National Association for Business Economics, that is quite telling. It finds that one in four U.S.

firms, they say that as a result of the trade war, they plan to raise prices. And this is actually a lower number than when you look at just

goods producing companies, two out of three goods producing companies say they plan to raise prices.

And also, quite telling is that exactly 0 percent of the U.S. firms that were surveyed say they plan to cut prices as a result of the trade war,

despite the fact, of course, that lower prices is one of the things that helped to get the president elected, because that's something that he

promised.

Now we already know that a lot of companies have either announced price increases or plans to increase prices. Right in just the last few weeks,

we're talking about UPPAbaby, cooler maker Yeti, Barbie maker Mattel, Stanley Black & Decker, and most notably, Walmart, the king of retail, also

saying that as a result of tariffs, they're going to have to raise prices.

Now, the president responded over the weekend to that Walmart warning of higher prices. And the president said that he believes that China and

Walmart should eat the tariffs not charge valued customers anything, and he added somewhat ominously, I'll be watching and so will your customers.

Becky, I would know that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, he was on CNN over the weekend, and he did concede to CNN's Jake Tapper that yes, Walmart

shoppers are going to likely see higher prices because of the tariffs.

ANDERSON: Let's have a look at the markets. They are open for business. Been open for about two minutes or just under. These markets are lower, not

necessarily on trading tariff stuff, although we know that that's created a whole load of uncertainty. I think this is probably in response to Moody's

downgrading the U.S. debt of course.

As Secretary Bessent tells CNN, that he's confident that at the end of these U.S.-China negotiations, both retailers, the American people and the

American workers, will be better off. And he very specifically had this to say about how negotiations are going.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I can tell you that with a few exceptions, the countries are coming with very good proposals for us. And I

look at these proposals, and they want to lower their tariffs, they want to lower their non-tariff barriers. Some of them have been manipulating their

currency.

They have been subsidizing industry and labor. And I look at these proposals, and I think these are excellent proposals, but I wonder, how did

we get here? How did the previous administrations allow this to happen to the American people?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, that's certainly the position from his boss, Donald Trump. Perhaps the treasury secretary has got a little bit more insight into how

we got here, Matt. What do you make of this, though? I mean, the Trump Administration ultimately placing blame on the Biden White House.

EGAN: Well, Becky, it's easy to forget, but the Biden Administration was not exactly free trade, right? He actually kept in place most of the Trump

tariffs, even though the Biden Administration was dealing with very high inflation, so he did not really give any sort of relief when it came to

tariffs.

Now, he didn't increase tariffs as much as the president has in the second term, but no one has right. And again, this is adding to some concern about

what it's going to do to the economy, right? Because the Trump Administration has argued it's going to cause a boom for hiring and a boom

in investment, but that survey of businesses, it actually finds the opposite, right?

U.S. firms, just 2 percent say that as a result of the trade war, they're going to accelerate hiring, 2 percent. 29 percent say that they plan to

delay hiring, right? And that makes sense, right? Because right now, CEOs don't know the rules of the game. They don't know how high tariffs are

going to be, and so they don't know if they should be hiring workers or firing them.

One last point here, similarly, U.S. firms in terms of how they're going to respond to the trade war. When it comes to investment, just 3 percent say

they plan to accelerate investment, far more 25 percent say they plan to delay investment. So, I think when you put it all together, it does suggest

that this trade war could potentially backfire, right?

It could cause higher prices, less hiring and less investment, all the opposite of what the administration is trying to get at, Becky.

[09:35:00]

ANDERSON: Yeah, good to have you. Thank you. Well, CNN has learned that the White House is studying three options sketched out by the Pentagon for

developing President Donald Trump's vision for what he describes as a Golden Dome, a defensive system designed to protect the entire U.S. from

long range missile strikes.

Mr. Trump is expected to say which is his preferred option in the coming days, but no matter which he chooses. Sources tell CNN, the cutting-edge

project will come in at a huge price in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Well, CNN's National Security Reporter Zachary Cohen is live in

Washington with the very latest.

And the very last time that we heard Donald Trump talk about this project was here in the Gulf on his trip last week to this region. So, tell us what

we actually know about this golden dome project that he spoke to on his trip, very specifically first?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, we know that Donald Trump has insisted that the U.S. needs a system that's similar to Israel's

iron dome missile defense system, in practical terms, though, the two systems would not look anything alike for one because the United States is

geographically so much larger than Israel.

Israel is about the size of the State of New Jersey. Just to give you a little bit of context as to how much more ground this golden dome would

have to cover in order to protect the entire United States from things like intercontinental ballistic missiles, things like hypersonic weapons that

the Defense Intelligence Agency just released an assessment saying that Russia, China, North Korea and Iran have been developing and pose a serious

threat to the U.S. homeland.

So, Donald Trump is insisting that billions of dollars be put aside in this upcoming year's budget, $25 billion to be exact, to start the process of

developing the golden dome system. And in order to cover that much ground of the United States, it's going to require a network of satellites,

interceptors in space, and also ground based interceptors, similar to what is already sort of in existence and being used by the United States

military.

But combining those systems is really the challenge for defense officials, who have to figure out how to make this into something that's really never

been invented before. And I mean that's a really daunting challenge, and something that we don't really have a clear picture yet of what it will

look like that is something that defense officials are actively working through at this stage.

But the Congressional Budget Office saying that ultimately this could cost up to $500 billion and take about 20 years to develop and implement. So,

looking at a long-term project here, but one that Donald Trump wants to prove can work before he leaves office.

ANDERSON: And SpaceX, very specifically, Starlink, because it is one of the world's certainly most famous and most successful satellite companies

today, Elon Musk's company, of course. Among the companies vying for a role, as I understand it, in developing golden dome. What more do we know

at this point?

COHEN: Yeah, Becky, SpaceX has been lobbying administration officials since Donald Trump took office for a piece of this project, and they're just one

of several defense contractors that really want to get a part of that funding and be play an integral role in developing golden dome.

But look at the end of the day, Democrats raising questions about Elon Musk's role in the process to decide who gets to have that money and who

gets to help build golden dome. So, we have to see but Elon Musk certainly making the most of his face time in proximity to Donald Trump, helping his

company really be at the forefront of this process.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. It's good to have you. Zach, thank you. When we come back, the world's number one golfer took home another major trophy over the

weekend, we're going to take a look at the highlights that competition, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: Golfer Scottie Scheffler won his third major trophy over the weekend with a big win at the PGA championship. Let me bring in Amanda

Davies, who joins me now ahead of "World Sport". I don't think that he's got a chance that golf fans who are watching him sort of shout apart from

free Scottie, but he's due one at this point, if he continues with this sort of success, isn't he?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, it was such a massively popular winner. And if you remember, Becky, it was a year and a day ago, those mug

shots emerged of Scottie Scheffler in the orange outfit.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

DAVIES: Having been arrested for that road traffic incident on the way into the PGA championship that it was ultimately cleared for. But this is very

much redemption. He was pushed all the way. He had a five-shot lead. He lost a five-shot lead. Jon Rahm definitely gave him a run for his money.

But ultimately, as you said, he's now celebrating his third major success, and it's two down two to go in terms of the Career Grand Slam. And of

course, after all the talk of Rory McIlroy finally getting over the line last time out in the Masters. This is now the question that's being put at

Scottie Scheffler's door.

Our colleague Patrick Snell, had the chance to speak to him yesterday after the success. And we're going to be speaking to Patrick.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

DAVIES: And hearing from Scottie Scheffler in just a couple of minutes. So, I hope everyone can stay with us.

ANDERSON: Good stuff. Do please stay with Amanda for "World Sport". That is up after this short break. I'll be back in 15 minutes with more "Connect

the World".

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