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Israel Ramps Up Attacks on Syrian Capital; IDF Strikes Entrance to Syrian Armed Forces HQ in Damascus; Poll Shows Most Americans Dislike Trump's Sweeping Policy Bill, Half Dissatisfied with Epstein Info Released; 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. Aired 10-10:45a ET

Aired July 16, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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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 and, in Syria, where the time is just after 5:00 pm.

Israeli airstrikes rocking the capital, Damascus. This follows a series of airstrikes it carried out in southern Syria, it says, to protect the

minority Druze community from attacks by Sunni militia.

Well, half of Americans say they are dissatisfied with the amount of information the federal government has released about the Jeffrey Epstein

case, according to a CNN poll. And almost no one is content with the amount the government has shared. This adding to the heat surrounding the Trump

administration.

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ANDERSON: We are following a dramatic escalation in the Middle East as Israel carries out airstrikes on the Syrian capital of Damascus. Take a

look at this video of a bomb falling as an anchor for Syrian state TV was live on air.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).

ANDERSON (voice-over): Well, the Israeli defense minister later shared the video after it circulated on social media saying, quote, "The painful blows

have begun."

Let's take a look at how we got to this point.

Over the weekend, we began hearing reports of intense violence between the Druze community and Bedouin tribes in Suwayda in the south of Syria. The

Druze stronghold, as we understand it, dozens were killed in the fighting.

Well, Syrian government forces were then deployed to the area as the violence ramped up. Islamist fighters aligned with the government have also

joined the fight. And that is when Israel say they got involved, launching strikes on those Syrian forces as they were en route to the region.

All of this culminating in airstrikes that we are seeing on the Syrian capital right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Ibrahim al-Assil is a senior fellow for the Syria Project at the Atlantic Council, joins us now live from Washington.

And we are hearing reports of barbaric attacks on civilians in Suwayda over the past 48-72 hours. And now we have seen, over the past 24 hours, Israeli

strikes, it seems, on Damascus and on government troops deployed to Suwayda. Let's get your analysis to begin with, of what you see going on.

IBRAHIM AL-ASSIL, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Very concerning updates, what has happened, what has happened in Syria over the last two

days and especially over the last few hours as well.

What was an internal conflict in Suwayda in southern Syria clearly has become a regional conflict over the last few hours. It's not only an

internal issue anymore. Now Israel is playing a more explicit role inside Syria, which will intensify and further complicates the situation inside

Syria.

And briefly talk about the Israeli, probably targets or goals in Syria, it wants to keep Damascus but it also wants to show that, if the Druze are

warned, just stand by and watch.

And finally, of course, there is an internal Israeli factor as well, because it wants to appeal to its Druze citizens inside Israel who were

watching what was happening in Syria and were very concerned about the situation and the safety of the Druze inside Syria.

ANDERSON: Israel says its intention is to support Syria's minority Druze community, as you point out.

What do you make of that, especially in light of the talk of normalization discussions between the two countries, between Israel and -- Israel's

government and the government of Syria at present, whose facilities are being bombed as we speak by Israel?

AL-ASSIL: Clearly, the relationship between Israel and Damascus will be tense. And any hope for close or probably short-term de-escalation, now we

can say that it's not going to happen anytime soon.

[10:05:00]

Clearly, Israel wants to take the situation into its own hands in southern Syria. And that will complicate any efforts for the government in Damascus

to reunify Syria.

But also we need to highlight that the government in Damascus has been very Sunni-centric.

And that's made many minorities in Syria, including the Kurds, including the Druze, including the Alawites and the Christians, very concerned about

its behavior. about the militia-like behavior of many of its fighters on the ground and the violations that we've witnessed in Suwayda and in other

regions inside Syria.

ANDERSON: The U.S.-Syria envoy, Tom Barrack, has called for calm. He has said in the last 24 hours that the U.S. has been in contact with all sides,

as he describes it, all sides to, quote, "navigate toward calm and integration."

We are seeing neither of those evidenced at present. Someone who's played a pivotal role in regional politics for decades, the former prime minister of

Qatar, had this to say -- and I quote him here.

"It is clear that there will be consequences arising from everything that has happened in the region recently. These consequences will unfold in

several directions, including plans to divide some countries, such as our sisterly Syria, or impose a situation that will make this region pay a

heavy price for many years to come."

What do you make of that statement?

What do you think he's referring to there?

AL-ASSIL: I think there is -- clearly there are two points here.

First, regionally, most of regional actors do want to move beyond non-state actors. They do want central government to consolidate and to end the role

or to limit really the role of any non-state actors. But that's not the position of Israel inside Syria.

And probably here we can also see some divergence between the American position and the Israeli position, because the Israeli -- and you mentioned

the American envoy -- the U.S. policy has been pushing more for to reintegrate Syria.

Even if that means folding in some diverse communities in Syria under the leadership of the Sunni government in Damascus. On the other side, we have

Israel that still wants to support the Druze in southern Syria. They see that they are a potential ally in the future to create a buffer zone.

And they don't want to allow Damascus to consolidate or to become a legitimate government across the Syrian territories. And probably this is

the time also for the U.S. to reassess its policy and its discourse and question if the current discourse is pushing different actors into corners.

Or while it probably should try to facilitate and support and motivate more of a national dialogue to try to bridge these deep differences and

cleavages inside Syria.

ANDERSON: The current prime minister of Qatar is in Washington today for talks with Donald Trump. No doubt Syria will be front and center, given

what we are seeing at present, alongside Gaza and Iran, both of which Qatar has an opportunity in mediating; albeit on the Gaza side, unsuccessfully at

this point.

And these files, Syria, Gaza, Iran, these are throughlines as far as the wider region is concerned to a broader peace agreement and potential for

normalization deals going forward.

You just spoke to, you know, the predicament that al-Sharaa is in at present. I just want you to just talk a little more on that. He has a

domestic issue here not being seen by many, particularly the minorities, in ensuring inclusion and integration of all Syrians into a new Syria.

And then he has the international pressure to get Syria sorted to the benefit of the wider region and international community. Just speak a

little bit more to the predicament that al-Sharaa is in at present.

AL-ASSIL: It's a huge challenge. all what we're talking about. And just imagine, in the background, that Syria just faced one of the largest fires

in its coastal region that it's never faced in its whole history.

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And the economic situation, the dire economic situation, and then the fragmentation inside Syria and the lack of a unified, disciplined national

army and fighters that al-Sharaa could depend on.

And add to all of that the regional complexity that you just mentioned. And I want to mention that usually what happens in Syria does not stay in

Syria. Everything spills over because of its geographic location at the heart of the Middle East.

And today we are seeing an increasing of the regional dimension of the conflict inside Syria. And that's, of course, very dangerous, because we

might move back again to a regional conflict, to regional war taking place inside Syria. And we will miss any opportunity to unify Syria and put it on

a track of recovery.

That's not only Syria and Syrians' need but really the region needs for its security and for any potential for prosperity and to resolve -- and be the

first step to resolve also other conflicts, like the ones you mentioned.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you, sir, as ever. Your insight and analysis so important to us. We appreciate it. Thank you very much.

The view there of Ibrahim al-Assil.

As we've been reporting these strikes then on Damascus, which we are watching unfold, as we speak, come hours after the Israeli defense minister

vowed to intensify attacks if Syrian government forces did not withdraw from the Druze communities in the south of the country.

We've also been seeing Druze members from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights cross into Syria to support, ostensibly, as reported, to support

their people as this all unfolds.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond back with us this hour.

And, Jeremy, as we look at these images of the Druze community trying to get back into Syria to support their people there, what is the Israeli

position on Syria at present?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, as it relates to the Druze community, we have heard multiple Israeli leaders now drawing this

connection about the strong bond that exists between Israel and the Druze community.

A lot of that stems from the fact that there is a strong Druze community here in Israel, of which these are Arab Druze, who serve at very high rates

in the Israeli military, despite not being obligated to do so.

There are also Syrian Druze who live in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, more and more of whom are starting to take up Israeli citizenship.

And all of them feel very connected to the Syrian Druze in Syria proper, who, in recent months, have certainly been at heightened levels of concern

about the takeover of Syria by president al-Sharaa and many of the Islamist factions that exist under his umbrella but also the attacks that the Druze

community there has faced.

And so with that, we have seen the Israeli government pledging to defend the Druze community inside of Syria. And it has been doing so through

military operations, including the ones we were watching unfold. Now here is the Israeli prime minister talking about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): We are also operating in Syria. We are committed to keeping southwestern Syria a

demilitarized zone in relation to the State of Israel.

We will not allow a situation to return where a second Lebanon is established there. We are also committed to protecting the Druze residents.

We are doing this through intense operations. I hope we won't need to act further. Much depends on what is understood and done or not done in

Damascus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: Critics say there's more to the Israeli government's intentions in Syria.

Can you just explain?

DIAMOND: Yes, absolutely. I mean, you know, what's important to note here is that, while the Israeli prime minister says he's acting in the Druze's

interests, we have also heard comments in the past very critical of this new Syrian government, very distrustful of this new Syrian government.

And also the perspective that is held here by many in Israel, the idea that a destabilized Syria would perhaps be more in Israel's interest than a

Syria that is led by former jihadists. That is the perspective of many people here.

And we have seen, of course, that, since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, Israel has been able to operate freely in the skies over Syria. It

is part of the reason that they were able to carry out those attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities last month. In addition to that, it's important

to understand that this Syrian Druze community is not a monolith.

[10:15:00]

And that is to say that one of their spiritual leaders is very closely allied with the Israeli Druze. He has repeatedly talked about international

interventions being required, which many interpret as being talking about Israeli intervention.

But other spiritual leaders of the Druze community in Syria have sought to give the Syrian government a chance and have actually welcomed efforts by

the Syrian government to intervene in some of the clashes that have erupted between the Syrian Druze in Suwayda and some of these Bedouin tribes.

But, of course, the Israeli government's perspective has been that the Syrian government is not helping the situation but rather putting the Druze

community even more at risk. Becky.

ANDERSON: Jeremy, before I let you go, we can't lose sight of Gaza. Another 20 people killed today at an aid distribution site there.

What do we know?

DIAMOND: Yes, that's right. At least 20 people were killed in a crowd crush at an aid distribution site run by this Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

According to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, these people died in a chaotic and dangerous surge. They claim that this was being driven by

agitators in the crowd.

They said that 19 people were trampled and one person was stabbed in this crowd crush. GHF said that they believe that this was carried out by

individuals who were armed and affiliated with Hamas, although they didn't provide any evidence to support that claim.

It is important to note, of course, that the only reason that there are these crushes of people at these sites is because of this model of

distribution.

Which has reduced what used to be hundreds of aid distribution points run by the United Nations and other nonprofit organizations into just a very

small number, often two or three sites open at any given day, where hundreds, if not thousands of people are flowing into these sites.

Given how unresolved and desperate the humanitarian situation is in Gaza and so, in many ways, this is the inevitable result of this system that

exists of Israeli restrictions on aid getting into Gaza as well.

We know, of course, that as these ceasefire negotiations continue, if they are successful, if a ceasefire comes into place, then there will be much

larger flows of humanitarian aid going into Gaza and those will be run by the United Nations and the traditional humanitarian channels. Becky.

ANDERSON: Jeremy, thank you.

And staying in region, U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has called for an aggressive Israeli investigation into the killing of Palestinian

American, Saif Musallet. The 20-year old was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank last week.

In a social media post, Huckabee described the attack as a quote, "criminal and terrorist act."

Musallet's family has called for a U.S. probe into his death but the U.S. State Department says local authorities are responsible for investigating

when a U.S. citizen dies in a foreign country.

And just to note Jeremy's reporting, including speaking to Saif's father in the past 48 hours or so. And you'll find that reporting on CNN.

Well, a new CNN poll finds Americans are dissatisfied with how much information has been released on pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. We'll take a

look at how the issue is splitting Trump's hardcore supporters. That is up next.

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ANDERSON: Donald Trump's biggest legislative win so far this presidency, what he called his big, beautiful bill, signed into law on America's

Independence Day.

It put the president's tax and spending priorities into action.

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ANDERSON: But as those changes sink in, new polling shows most Americans don't like them. Roughly six in 10 say they oppose the bill and almost as

many say Mr. Trump has gone too far in making budget cuts to federal programs. Now this survey was taken about a week after the bill became law.

U.S. President Trump suggested his attorney general, Pam Bondi, could release more files on the investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Here is what he said on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm not going to talk about Epstein.

Our memo speaks for itself and we'll get back to you on anything else.

We're going to fight to keep America safe again and we're fighting together as a team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, that memo she released last week, refusing to give any more information on the case, sparked a furious MAGA backlash.

Now a CNN poll shows half of Americans are dissatisfied with the amount of information released. Just 3 percent say they are satisfied; 29 percent say

it doesn't matter and 17 percent say they haven't heard enough to say either way.

Well, Democrats on the same page as some of these MAGA loyalists on this issue. They also want to force a vote to release the files, pointing to the

president's about-face on Epstein after both Trump and his officials made longstanding claims about Epstein's death and about his so-called client

list. Trump seems to have moved past that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I don't understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It's pretty boring stuff. It's sordid

but it's boring. And I don't understand why it keeps going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, the issue is also raising flags amongst a certain group of voters. The universe of male comedians, of streamers and of right-leaning

influences who've cultivated large followings online, they are collectively known as the manosphere.

It's a group the Trump campaign actively pursued and partially powered his political comeback. Now some of the most influential voices say they are

disillusioned with what is happening in Washington. Let's get you CNN reporter Steve Contorno on this.

Steve, some of these are, you know, big influencers online. They've turned on him and they're speaking out against some of Trump's policies. Just

explain what's going on here.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Becky, these are individuals, comedians, pranksters, podcasters who have millions and millions of online

followers and Trump cultivated their followers during the campaign.

He appeared on their shows. Some of them endorsed him. Some of them were VIPs at his inauguration. But lately, we have been hearing an intensifying

level of discontent and dissatisfaction from these very same voices. Take a listen to some of what have they been saying on their podcasts lately.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW SCHULZ, PODCASTER AND COMEDIAN: I voted for none of this. He's doing the exact opposite of everything I voted for. I want him to stop the

war. He's funding them. I want him to shrink spending, reduce the budget. He's increasing it.

JOE ROGAN, PODCASTER: There's two things that are insane. One is the targeting of migrant workers, not cartel members, not gang members, not

drug dealers, just construction workers showing up in construction sites, raiding them, gardeners.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROGAN: Like really?

THEO VON, COMEDIAN AND PODCASTER: It was supposed to be America first. Like we're focusing on like, what are we doing to get things back into

America, right?

Now that we're caught up here and it feels like we are just working for Israel, I don't know.

You just really start to feel very disillusioned pretty quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: That last voice you heard was Theo Von. He's a comedian whose podcast has 4 million subscribers on YouTube. I actually went to go see his

standup show in Detroit over the weekend and talked to some of his fans.

[10:25:05]

And there was a similar level of discontent and grievances from many of the people in his audience, some of them saying that they found Trump's, quote,

"big, beautiful bill" too expensive and really balking at the cost and the deficits that he's running up.

Another person saying that Trump broke his promise on no new wars, telling me it was, quote, "a big lie to my face."

And when you see this dissatisfaction, it's actually starting to show up in polls. A new CNN poll showing that the number of 35-year olds and under,

the men in that group, there are 60 percent of them are now dissatisfied with Trump's administration, compared to just 54 percent a few months ago.

So Becky, just really showing that this key demographic, that was surprisingly behind Trump last year, is starting to have some doubts.

ANDERSON: Yes. Fascinating. Good to have you, sir. Thank you.

We are back after this quick break with more CONNECT THE WORLD.

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ANDERSON (voice-over): Welcome back.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky, Anderson. Here are your headlines this hour.

And Israel has carried out a series of airstrikes on the Syrian capital, Damascus, in a dramatic escalation of a campaign it says is to protect the

country's minority Druze community. The Israeli military has confirmed it hit the Syrian defense ministry and an area near the presidential palace.

Indonesia confirms it has struck a tariff deal with the United States. Donald Trump announced the deal earlier, saying the U.S. would impose a 19

percent tariff on imports from Indonesia.

Indonesian spokesperson told Reuters the negotiations were, quote, "an extraordinary struggle."

Ukraine says Russia launched hundreds of drones in a missile at Ukrainian cities overnight. The targets included Ukraine's second largest city,

Kharkiv, as well as president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown. The increased assaults come as U.S. president toughened his stance on Russia.

ANDERSON: Right. Back to our headline this hour, last hour I spoke with Danny Makki, who is in Suwayda in Syria, where reports of brutal deadly

attacks are circulating right now. I started by asking Danny what he has seen and heard on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY MAKKI, ASSOCIATE FELLOW, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Well, I was in Damascus, actually, before. And the situation in Suwayda yesterday, when I

was there, was really bad.

What we actually saw was a number of different military groups assaulting the city. We saw and we witnessed the Syrian government forces and internal

security taking the city of Suwayda.

[10:30:06]

And then retreating. And then Druze forces retook the city later. And we've seen wide-scale clashes, escalations since, Israeli attacks and airstrikes

on Syrian government positions. And it's just been chaos for the last two to three days now.

This all started off because of a gunfight between Syrian Bedouin tribesmen and Druze militias. Now you have the main Druze militia, which is backed by

Hikmat al-Hijri, who is the main Druze official, who does not want to have a peace agreement with Damascus. And he's been calling for Israeli help.

Now what we've seen since then is basically the wider Druze community welcoming the Syrian military forces into Suwayda, with the exception of

Hikmat al-Hijri. Now what we've seen from Syrian forces is wide-scale humiliations of Druze figures, of Druze notables and elders, shaving their

mustaches off.

We've seen summary executions in some of the houses and really horrific scenes coming out of the province. And something that we did not expect, I

mean, there's a big differentiation between Druze militias and the Druze civilian population.

And this comes on the back of what happened in the Syrian coast and clashes in Druze areas around Damascus. And what we're really seeing is the kind of

destruction of trust between some of these minorities and the Syrian government.

And that's something which needs an immediate ceasefire and to stop any escalations, because these escalations at the moment are creating problem

after problem for Damascus, especially with the Israelis.

I mean, the Israelis have attacked the ministry of defense in Syria right now. So that's definitely something which will continue to create problems

for Ahmed al-Sharaa.

ANDERSON: Yes. And Syria's foreign ministry saying it holds Israel fully responsible for yesterday's attacks and for, one assumes, today's attacks.

U.S.-Syrian envoy Tom Barak has said the U.S. was in contact with all sides, to, quote, "navigate toward calm and integration."

Well, we're certainly not seeing calm and integration on the ground as you and I speak. The pictures coming out of Damascus, of the Israeli bombing of

the facilities there, quite extraordinary.

Israel says its operation is about protecting the Druze population. We've seen these striking visuals of Druze streaming across the border from the

Israeli-occupied Golan Heights into Syria, reportedly to support their people.

What's the sentiment inside that, what is a minority Druze community in Syria right now?

Can you just explain?

MAKKI: Now the Druze are a historic minority in Syria. And they've been one of the most important social factors throughout the history of the

country. And if you remember, the Assad regime, Suwayda was one of the ulcers which really devastated the Assad regime because it was one area

they could not control.

It was one of the areas, really, which kept the revolution flowing and living throughout the worst years when Assad had retaken most of the

country. So the Druze in Suwayda have always had issues with the Syrian and the Assad regime.

At the moment, these issues have continued with the Syrian interim government, which is partly because of, number one, the fact that there are

lots of extremist groups within this new Syrian military, who actually want to come and kind of punish Suwayda for being separatist at the moment.

And you have the Israeli dimension. And the Israeli dimension is really continuing to provoke a lot of the Syrian groups within the military to

really assault Suwayda.

Now what's happened recently is we've seen the Israelis have taken a really strong course to support the Druze cause and to say that we don't want

anyone to be damaged in these Druze areas.

And they're literally, you know, bombing the Syrian ministry of defense at the moment. Now a lot of the people who came in the assault with the

general security and with the Syrian ministry of defense had seen a lot of their fellow soldiers killed by Druze militias.

So what we're seeing is a cycle of blood. I mean, the country is really going through another, yet another cycle of blood, one that has not really

got any main, you know, end in sight. There's no light at the end of the tunnel immediately because there's so much rhetoric on different sides.

And you've got the availability of foreign agendas playing. Now the Israelis have an agenda. I think the U.S. really want the situation to calm

down. I think they're happy with where Syria is as a government at the moment.

But if you look at the situation in Suwayda, I mean, if you're a minority in Syria, watching this, watching these videos of elders being humiliated,

this is not something that you would see and really feel safe in the country, you know. So we're going to have to see continuation of this

tension until Ahmed al-Sharaa can really get these groups together.

[10:35:02]

And be like, look, you either have citizenship and you protect civilians or there's no role for the military in the country if we're just going to

repeat the mistakes of the past.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, my next guest is Khaldoun Khayou. He's a resident of the area and he's joining us from there live.

Khaldoun, thank you for joining us. Tell us what your community is going through right now.

KHALDOUN KHAYOU, SUWAYDA RESIDENT: Firstly, let me excuse about you, about my language or my accent, because it's not my mother language. But I'll try

to (INAUDIBLE) as possible.

Our situation actually here in Suwayda, I'm speaking right now from Suwayda, actually our situation is maybe a few minutes or a few hours ago,

it was very miserable. It was they shoot us, shoot us, the government forces. We don't know why.

Actually, we don't know why. But we are in a big danger. You know, our civil people, our old men, our children, our women, we prayed about thus

actually. This is this is our situation, yes, exactly.

ANDERSON: Have you yourself or your family members been injured?

KHAYOU: Yes, actually. Three days ago, I had the -- on my face. And the -- I don't feel good right now. But we will try to do something to save the

other people actually. We just don't save for old ones.

ANDERSON: So just explain for our viewers who is fighting whom?

Like what is going on in Suwayda at present?

And how is the Syrian government responding to this crisis, do you think?

KHAYOU: Actually, Syrian government tried to solve this problem in a miserable or in the very bad way they use the force. They use the heavy

guns, they use the Shaheen plane, they shoot the civil people. And they said they are coming to protect us.

Actually, they are coming to kill us. This is what happened exactly.

ANDERSON: You don't trust the Syrian government?

KHAYOU: Again, please.

ANDERSON: You do not trust the Syrian government.

Is that what you are saying?

You have no trust?

KHAYOU: I told you that the Syrian government, maybe we can make a solution between our people in Suwayda and this government in a political

way, not in -- not in the gun.

Because already, if you want to make a contract with me and you have this gun in your hand, what I can do, I will accept what you said, you know. But

if you are asking me, for example, in a political way, if you use this choice. But the government in Syria make the very bad way, very bad choice

and they shoot us.

ANDERSON: Listen, we extend our condolences to you and I hope you can stay safe. I know that you are supporting the community there and doing what you

can. And we appreciate your time with us today. Thank you, Khaldoun.

We're going to be back after this quick break.

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ANDERSON: It's time to celebrate the best of the best when it comes to television. The 77th Primetime Emmy nominations were announced on Tuesday.

"Severance," "The White Lotus" and "The Pitt" are among the strong contenders in the Best Drama category.

Best Comedy nominees include past winners "Hacks" and "The Bear." Though watch out for newcomer, "The Studio," which has become a Hollywood darling.

And in the Best Limited Series category, the viral hit "Adolescence" scored a nomination, as did "The Penguin," a series about the Batman villain.

"The Pitt," "The White Lotus," "Hacks" and "The Penguin" are all shown on HBO, which, of course, is part of CNN's parent company, Warner Bros.

Discovery.

Well, that is it for this edition of CONNECT THE WORLD. Thank you for joining us. CNN continues. "MARKETPLACE ASIA" is up next.

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