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Tens of Millions in Path of Severe Storms Across U.S.; Pakistan Hoping to Host Second Round of U.S.-Iran Talks; Students Around the World Gather to Mark My Freedom Day; IMF Warns Iran War Could Tip World into Recession; Two Champions League Semifinal Spots Up for Grabs. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired April 15, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: We are looking at live pictures from Washington, D.C., where the U.S. President has expressed

optimism, saying that the war is close to over and that talks between the U.S. and Iran could resume in Pakistan within days.

It's 09:00 a.m. on a beautiful day in Washington. It is 05:00 p.m. here on a beautiful day in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson, this is "Connect the

World" from our Middle East programming hub. Also coming up the spot between the pope and the Trump Administration continues after the U.S.

President, sorry, the U.S. Vice President said that the pontiff should be careful when talking about theology.

And severe storms threatening tens of millions of people in the United States. Well, the stock market opens about 30 minutes from now. We will

check back in on what looks like a mixed start to the open that are those are the futures markets generally an indication of where we will kick off

trade this Wednesday.

Well, as the world waits for a potential round two of direct talks between the United States and Iran. U.S. President Donald Trump is once again

voicing optimism that a deal could be reached soon. Here's what he said in a Fox News interview that aired a few hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this war over?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think it's close to over here. I mean, I view it as very close to over. You know, what if I

pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild their country. And we're not finished. We'll see what happens. I think they want

to make a deal very badly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Remember, he has said or posted words to that effect repeatedly over the 6.5 weeks since the war started. One Iranian lawmaker says his

country is continuing to negotiate, despite believing the Trump Administration is not, and I quote them here, trustworthy.

Well, U.S. Vice President JD Vance says he feels good about the U.S. position for now. There is no official word on more direct talks with six

days left in what has been this sort of two-week ceasefire, one of the main sticking points is the U.S. call for the immediate reopening of the U.S.

Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Central Command says it is now fully implemented its blockade of Iranian ports, until that happens on Tuesday, tracking data showed some

Iranian linked vessels moving through that strait, which is not officially part of the blockade. We've got Kevin Liptak with us this hour in

Washington.

Nic Robertson is in Islamabad amid hope Pakistan kudos, another round of U.S.-Iran talks in the next few days. Stand by Nic, I'll get to you. Kevin,

let me start with you in Washington. The president certainly once again, signaling momentum this could soon be over. We are also hearing there are

no firm plans in place for any talks just yet.

So, help us understand what's going on here, and what may be the positioning at this point from the White House?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right, and when you hear President Trump say that the war is close to over, you rightly note that

this is something he's been saying for weeks now, and in the same interview, he also said that the U.S. could take out Iranian bridges,

civilian infrastructure in one day.

So still conflicting signals from the president at the same time that he tries to broker this agreement with Iran. You know, we heard from the

president yesterday that talks in Pakistan could potentially occur in the next two days. No one has left Washington yet. It's about a 69-hour flight,

and so it doesn't appear as this is going to happen tomorrow.

But when you talk to administration officials, they do seem somewhat confident that these negotiations will proceed and resume at some point

fairly soon. What we don't know is how some of the differences that continue to be in place when JD Vance left Islamabad last weekend, how

those differences have been resolved.

You know, you hear the issue of nuclear enrichment. We heard about these various proposals from both sides. You know, the U.S. suggesting a 20-year

moratorium. Iran coming back with a five year pause proposal. President Trump yesterday said that he wouldn't even be happy with a 20-year pause.

And so how that issue is resolved remains to be seen. We also don't understand yet how they have resolved the question of the nuclear stockpile

inside of Iran. And so even though you do hear a discussion of continued progress and continued momentum, how all of the issues that would comprise

a deal are reconciled, is still a big unanswered question, so too, is the issue of Lebanon.

[09:05:00]

You know, you had the Israelis and the Lebanese here in Washington yesterday sitting down for what was essentially a photo op meeting. They

haven't agreed on a ceasefire yet, and we have not yet heard that President Trump is pressing the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, into

stopping his operations inside of Lebanon.

There is an understanding that, that issue will also have to be resolved before a deal with Iran is finalized and signed. And so, a lot of

unanswered questions about how the diplomacy is proceeding, but it is proceeding, and there is optimism at the White House that this could all

result in an agreement sometime fairly soon.

There is discussion of potentially extending the ceasefire that's due to expire next week, but as of this morning, an administration official says

that nothing has been formalized just yet.

ANDERSON: Understood. All right, let's get to Nic then. Thank you, Kevin. When you speak to officials and your sources on the ground there where you

are, where are we right now?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think there's a sense, Becky, that things are moving along. I think it seems to behind the

scenes. And I would say this is sort of a picture has changed in the last couple of hours, and there's a reason for that, and I'll explain that.

But I think you know that optimism that we're hearing from the White House. I think there's a sense of that here as well, at least in as much as the

talks you know can happen here, and there's some optimism that maybe they can work now. Why has it changed in the past couple of hours?

Well, we just heard from the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman that in Tehran, at the moment, they're hosting interlocutors negotiators from

Pakistan, from here to try to sort of bridge some of the differences and gaps and sort of, when you think about the sort of senior level figures

that have been involved in the negotiations so far on this side here, you've had the, you know, the prime minister has been involved.

The foreign minister has been involved. The interior minister has been there. And the Field Marshal, the sort of most powerful person in Pakistan,

has been there, involved in these talks, making calls, all that sort of thing in the meetings. But at the moment that Pakistan's Prime Minister and

Foreign Minister in Saudi Arabia, they're going to Qatar, they're expected to go to Turkey as well.

So that's sort of not in this diplomatic picture. So, then it sort of raises the question a little bit of, who actually is in Tehran having these

conversations, trying to convince the Iranians to get over the line, and if it's at the level of the Field Marshal, and that's something we can't

confirm, and wouldn't be able to get from his office here.

But if it is at that sort of level, I think that gives us an understanding of why the mood is beginning to shift, that there can be some positivity,

but precisely the issues that he, or whoever else is there, is able to push forward and bridge with the Iranians that last and all the best and final

offer that JD Vance said as he left the talks here on early Sunday morning, and that's still on the table ball in the Iranian court.

ANDERSON: Sort of play you this clip, Nic from President Donald Trump, where he says Gulf countries were and I quote him here, not expected to be

hit in this conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They would have had a nuclear weapon within one month, maybe two weeks, and they would have used it on Israel and the Middle East. And they

would have used it on us too, and not just Israel, by the way, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, countries that were shocked when they got hit.

You know, these countries were not expected to be hit, because they were going after those countries. They were going over to take over the Middle

East, and we stopped them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: It's so interesting, because I've spoken to so many people, of course, in this country and around this region. Look, Iran was always a

threat. Was, you know, the sort of attack that we saw over the past six weeks by Iran on this country, for example, the worst-case scenario.

Yes, I've got that on the record. It was the worst-case scenario. And we live through the worst-case scenario. But you know, the idea that the U.S.

believes, or had no sort of sense, that this region might be attacked as it was, is beyond many people to be quite frank.

We are now hearing that the UAE has held the first high level talks with Iran since the war began between Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is

the brother of the president here, and one of the key leaders in government and the Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in Iran.

What do you make of these talks, and what does that signal about efforts to de-escalate the wider regional conflict?

[09:10:00]

ROBERTSON: Yeah, look, as you know so well, Becky, it's in and this is what all our sources tell us. It's in absolute everyone's interest to de-

escalate in the region. The Iranians have weathered a massive firestorm from the U.S. and Israel, and anyone that thought killing the supreme

leader would topple the regime has been proven wrong, and that analysis that perhaps they could be, the regime could be beaten down and beaten back

enough for the population to come up and take over.

Clearly, that analysis has failed. So, it is in everyone's interest to make peace and get into diplomacy and roll their sleeves up on this. And I think

that's what you're witnessing. If I'm not incorrect, I believe overnight the crown prince from Abu Dhabi, you'll correct me here where I go wrong,

please was in Beijing for meetings there.

This effort to sort of broaden the diplomacy, to reach out to others who can have influence, and to go to the heart of the problem, Tehran, and to

try to tell them off their fence and into a position of compromise, the uranium enrichment, the access to those enrichment facilities, the removal

of highly enriched uranium, the destruction of those facilities.

The need for them to be categorically clear about enrichment intentions going forward, and to be able to lock that in. But from Iran's position,

they're looking for things that actually the Gulf or the United States might be in a position to give if they can get over the sort of political

impact and price at home, which is releasing sanctions on them, reparations for damage.

There are financial incentives here for Iran that Iran could really use. And of course, for the Iranian leadership, it's not just about rebuilding.

You get money in your pocket. You begin to do the things that the population has been so angry with you about that they came out on the

streets and died in their thousands just earlier in the year.

Of course, that embeds the current regime in Tehran. That's antithetical in some ways. This is the conundrum, isn't it?

ANDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the vice president of this country. Speaking to Ghalibaf is a big deal, and we will

continue to follow that. But we are, you know, the amount that is going on behind the scenes, very visibly, the sort of behind the scenes, by which I

mean, you know, not necessarily at the table, as it were in Islamabad, but you know, the amount of work that's going on around this region and beyond.

In your rights, point out the Sheikh Khaled, who is the president's son and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, with a very big UAE delegation in Beijing at

present, sort of, you know, reinforcing what are, you know, significant bilateral ties there. And one assumes, speaking about how the Chinese might

play a role in de-escalation at the same time.

Good to have you both. Thank you very much indeed. Well, the U.S. military says its blockade of Iranian ports has completely halted Tehran sea trade

in just a day and a half. President Donald Trump touted its success in an interview airing earlier today on Fox News, describing Iran's reaction to

the blockade as pretty amazing.

Well, U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, as it's known, has said no vessels have breached the blockade since it was implemented on Monday. Though,

reports are emerging of some commercial traffic, including several Iran linked vessels, actually transiting those incredibly important, critical

waterway that is the Strait of Hormuz.

Let's get you to CNN's Eleni Giokos following this and has been over the past six weeks from Dubai. CENTCOM then has said the blockade only applies

to traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas, not the strait itself. But what do we make of the tracking data showing multiple

Iranian -- Iran linked ships transiting the straight since Monday, when this blockade was ostensibly implemented?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, since the enforcement, sorry, I've lost you, Becky. But since the enforcement of the blockade, you

know, we saw vessels testing the U.S. enforcement of this blockage out of the Strait of Hormuz, and in fact, in the early hours when it went live, we

were wondering how these vessels were getting through, because some of them were sanctioned since 2023 by the United States laden with various crude

products.

And then we see something really interesting. And I want to point your attention to a vessel called the rich starry and this one has particularly

been sanctioned since 2023.

[09:15:00]

It then stops in the Gulf of Oman. It then makes a U-turn and heads back. Then there's another vessel called the outputs, also sanctioned by the

United States, stops at the same point as the rich story. Now we don't know if they received a warning from the United States, but what we do know is

that, that point seems to show that the U.S. naval blockade is actually working.

Kpler data also showing us that there are now around five other vessels that just make abrupt stops in the Gulf of Oman and then turning off AIS

transponders. There's also been a lot of spoofing and a lot of mixing of signals, where vessels are trying to sort of confuse the navy in terms of

where they come from, you know, the ports that they originated from.

And then, importantly, Becky, what we're seeing as well is the flag that they carrying and where they headed to. Now U.S. Central Command says that

they were able to stop six vessels from heading through into international waters. This data shows that it basically squares up almost with what we've

been seeing on marine traffic.

ANDERSON: So how do they stop these vessels? I mean, what do we understand about how this blockade is being --

GIOKOS: All right, Becky, I've lost you, but I'm -- can I -- All right, I've lost you. But I just want to point this out, because I know where

we're going with this. Importantly, CENTCOM has really, you know, taken a big stance on blocking this double blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

You've got the Iranian checkpoint, where shippers are very reticent, don't want to cross through, because that would mean direct coordination with

Iranian forces. And then you've got the U.S. naval blockade. Now the United States Navy, it consists of 12 plus warships, according to CENTCOM, 100

plus fighter and surveillance aircraft.

10 plus, 10,000 plus service members that are embarking on this very complex reconnaissance mission that includes air as well as satellite, you

know, work on the ground there and then U.S. CENTCOM is said it's any vessel that comes from an Iranian port and from Iranian territorial waters,

posting this image on X this morning.

So, what we also don't know is if any vessel that has come from other friendlier ports has been able to cross through and get through the U.S.

naval blockade. That information not very clear, but what U.S. Central Command has also been talking about that they've been able to, you know,

tighten the screws on Iran's ability to gain revenue from the straits and also sell its oil to the international market.

Keeping in mind that the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil that comes to an end this weekend, and paradoxically, Iran has been making money from

this war with the assistance, frankly, by the United States, by lifting the sanctions of around 140 million barrels of oil. That was out at sea.

ANDERSON: Good to have you. Thank you very much indeed, and apologies to our viewers for the technical issues we got there. Thank you. Well,

President Trump doubling down on his feud with the pope, posting this on Truth Social. Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at

least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a nuclear bomb is absolutely

unacceptable.

Well, this is the U.S. Vice President has insisted that a now deleted post by Donald Trump appearing to depict him as Jesus was a joke, and that the

pope should be careful when talking about theology. JD Vance says the pope was wrong to suggest that Jesus and his followers aren't on the side of

those who wield the sword pointing to allied victory in World War Two.

Well, the pope himself says he will not stop speaking out against war. Pope Leo flying to Cameroon today, the second stop in his tour of Africa. Chris

Lamb, my colleague, is more from Algeria, where the pope departed in the past few hours.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pope Leo continuing to voice his message of peace while in Africa, on Wednesday, he flies to

Cameroon, the second stop in his four-country tour of the continent. Leo is going to be in Cameroon, a country which has seen conflicts between the

French speaking government and English-speaking separatists.

On Thursday, Leo will fly into the heart of that dispute with a message of reconciliation. But while in Africa, Leo is continuing to face

extraordinary attacks from the Trump Administration. Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, saying the pope needs to be more careful when talking

about theology, even saying the pope needs to remember just war theory, a theory that was devised by Saint Augustine of Hippo to whom Leo is very,

very closely linked.

[09:20:00]

President Trump also suggesting that Leo needs to recall the protesters who died in Iran. But Leo will be on board a five-hour flight. The question is,

will he come out to journalists and take questions and perhaps respond to these latest attacks? Leo, though arriving in the capital of Cameroon with

that message of peace during his marathon trip of Africa. Christopher Lamb, CNN, Algiers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Christopher filed that report before the next leg of this trip, of course. Still ahead, Spring Storm sweeping through the United States,

bringing multiple severe threats, including flooding tornadoes and hail to millions of people, the areas facing the highest risk, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Severe storms threatening tens of millions of people in the United States, from the Texas Mexico border to the Great Lakes, that

includes another round of thunderstorms and hail with the highest risk across Oklahoma, Texas and Southeast Kansas, extending into the upper

Mississippi Valley.

More than two dozen tornadoes over the last two days have torn shreds through multiple states, with more expected by the end of the week. Plus,

major flooding fueled by snow melt and repeated spring storms is expected in Northern Michigan and in Wisconsin. Let's get you more.

CNN's Meteorologist Derek Van Dam in the house for you, tornadoes slamming through multiple states on Tuesday. Derek, just get us up to speed. What

can we expect going forward?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Becky, it's been a fierce week for severe weather, and this multi day stretch of severe weather continues. It's not

just tornadoes. It's not just strong winds and large hail. It's also the flooding aspect that you mentioned. This is some of the inundated homes

from this is a combination of melting snow pack from the winter and then repeated storms moving through the same area, and then the elephant in the

room, right?

This isn't Kansas anymore. This is like a classic Wizard of Oz type looking tornado. If you've ever seen the movie, you know the reference, right? It's

a rope tornado. And really impressive to see that. And we very rarely get this type of perspective from drone's eye view of the circulation as it

moves through this open farmland.

Now there wasn't really significant damage from that tornado, but other tornadoes, as you saw, as Becky, was tossing to me, caused damage on the

ground. Here's our look of our see weather for the day today. So, some of the same areas that had the tornadic activity yesterday are under threat

once again today, millions of people from Chicago, Detroit southward to Kansas City and Oklahoma City.

Large hail, damaging winds, tornadoes, definitely a potential. These are the two locations that have our greatest threat of tornadic super cells,

although we can't sleep on the potential of tornadoes as far east as Cleveland, Ohio. So really, we need to keep weather aware.

[09:25:00]

If you're traveling to or throughout the United States today, that's the area that you'll likely see some travel delays and impacts because of the

weather. We've got systems moving through a stationary frontal boundary, meaning it's not moving very fast. That's why we've had this several days

of severe weather move over the same locations.

The magic ingredient, though, during the course of the day, Becky, is the daytime heating from the sun, so that helps blossom these individual super

cell thunderstorms that have the potential of dropping a funnel from the cloud all the way to the ground, and that's when we get an official tornado

report.

Tomorrow, we have a lessened risk of severe weather. But look at Friday. This could be another big-ticket day. We're keeping a close eye on that for

the planes and to the Great Lakes, once again, Becky.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you, sir. Thank you. You are bang up to date with Derek. It is today My Freedom Day, students around the world marking

the 10th anniversary of what is this global celebration of freedom, and they are making a commitment to end modern day slavery.

Listen as these students in Zimbabwe, for example, tell us what freedom means to them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom is the ability to choose my own path instead of the one the world tries to force upon me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It means my future is a choice I get to make it. Freedom means I'm empowered even more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, these students among thousands of young people from schools across the world marking the 10th Annual My Freedom Day, along with CNN.

And for more, let's bring in my colleague CNN's Lynda Kinkade. She's joining us from the Atlanta International School.

It's good to have you, Lynda. How are students there marking Freedom Day?

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Becky, it's so great to be with you on this very special anniversary of My Freedom Day. As you can see behind me, students

have put together a 10-year picture gallery of all the incredible work they've done over the past decade. This is an initiative, as you know,

happening in more than 100 countries around the world.

And Atlanta International School has been at the forefront from the very beginning. And one of those students with me, who I spoke to many years

ago, is Anouk you've been part of a human rights group since grade eight. What have you learned in that time?

ANOUK ROBBIANI-PAULETE, GRADE 11, ATLANTA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL: I've learned that making a difference doesn't have to be a big thing. Everyone

can make a difference. Every student can make a difference, you can do. You are making a change, even if it feels like you're not. Everything is making

a difference for -- against human trafficking, and it's really important.

KINKADE: And this, of course, is an issue that affects more than 50 million people globally, in every country. Why do you think it's important for

young people to speak about it?

ROBBIANI-PAULETE: Yeah, definitely. I think human trafficking, as you said, is a very big issue in it, and it disproportionately affects young

children, ages 12 to 14. And so, I think it's important that young children learn to be safe, and also that the next generation can lead this fight and

continue this movement against human trafficking.

KINKADE: And what's incredible today, thanks Anouk, amazing work. What's incredible today, Becky, is this school is expressing this issue, not just

talking about it, but they're doing it through art. As you can see, look at this incredible piece by a student in grade nine, Sophia Rogers (ph) called

unshackled strength.

But they're also doing it through dance and poetry. And one of the dances that has been going on behind us, some hip hopers, hip hop dancers from

grade seven, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

KINKADE: Alexa (ph) tell us about the dance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, they chose the song, survivor by Destiny's Child. And the title is obviously survivor, and it shows what people who are being

trafficked are doing right now. They're surviving. A deeper meaning to this song could definitely be how it says words like surviving and just going

through it.

And that's what people need to keep doing, because there are people looking for the people being trafficked, and it shows how the hardest part is

getting out.

KINKADE: And you came up with some of this choreography for this dance. Why is it important for young people to express this issue through creative

movement?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so important for young people to express this issue because it shows how big issues can't only affect adults. They can

also affect children. What's being trafficked is an issue with adults and children, and I think it's really important for us to be knowledgeable

about this, so we can make sure it doesn't happen to us and notice around us if it's happening to anyone else.

KINKADE: Incredible students here. Thanks, Alexa (ph). It is really an incredible school, and the work they've done over the past decade truly

amazing. We'll be here throughout the day -- Becky, and I'll be speaking to you soon.

ANDERSON: Yeah. Exactly takes me back to 2016 and I was at the American College here, the ACS here, 10 years ago, and looking at the work that they

were doing in the UAE, and they've embedded Freedom Day into their syllabus, and it's really good to see how it works.

Thank you, Lynda will not be a hip hopper going forward, though, I don't think thank you.

[09:30:00]

We will catch up with you next hour. We're going to invite you all to follow the hashtag My Freedom Day on social media, head cnn.com/

myfreedomday to learn more about CNN's worldwide event to raise awareness of modern-day slavery. Well markets on Wall Street about to open, pretty

much right now.

Well, that is the bell -- day by Viking. It is Wednesday, mid-week in what is an important week, once again, for these markets, after President

Trump's new hints about the war in Iran and the IMF start warning about the global economy, I'm going to get some top economic insight for you, after

this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You are watching "Connect the World" just after half past five here, just after half past

nine on Wall Street. Let's see how stocks are getting on. We've given these markets just a little bit of time to settle.

And we are looking at a slightly stronger open up by about a fifth of 1 percent overall. Oil prices trading higher today, but they are still below

$100 on the barrel. This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump, once again, signals that the war with Iran could soon be over. Let's really understand

what is going on here.

Mohamed El-Erian is Chief Economic Adviser at Allianz, a professor at the Wharton School, good friend of this show. Fantastic analysis always when we

get you on Mohamed, so thank you. Let's start with your reaction to oil prices and to markets. Let's start there, and then we'll get a bit wider.

MOHAMED EL-ERIAN, CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISER AT ALLIANZ: And thanks for having me, Becky. So, markets are behaving as if nothing has happened. We are

within a whisker of record highs, and we've erased all the losses. But as you pointed out, oil prices are still much higher than they were before the

war, and that speaks to this big difference between finance and the economy, or Wall Street versus Main Street.

These are one of the big three divergence we are seeing. Wall Street is saying everything is fine, but Main Street is still getting hit, not only

on higher oil prices, but higher borrowing costs as well.

ANDERSON: So, what do you make of the IMF warning that the war with Iran could tip the world into recession. You've said that the IMF is basically

saying virtually every challenge facing the global economy is poised to intensify due to the fallout of this war. I mean, what challenges are you

referring to, and how likely are they to intensify at this point?

[09:35:00]

EL-ERIAN: So, as you know, Becky, I worked at the IMF for 15 years, and it tends to use very polite language. And it used to -- it said two things in

particular. One, we don't have confidence in a baseline scenario. We're not saying this is what's likely to happen. We have a reference scenario and

lots of other scenarios, meaning the world is very uncertain.

Then they went on to say, whatever scenario you adopt, or we end up with, it is one of lower growth and higher inflation. If you read between the

lines, they're basically saying that the things that we are worried about going into this year have become worse, insufficient growth, excessive

inequality, cost of living, burden, climate, debt, deficit.

So, everything we were worried about coming into this year, they're now saying they're going to be worse.

ANDERSON: The UK's Chancellor, who is the Treasury Secretary equivalent Rachel Reeves, who've been posting today saying, quote, we didn't start

this war. We didn't want it, and working families at a cost-of-living crisis shouldn't have to pay the price for it.

Her boss, the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, whose friendship with Donald Trump shattered over this war, it seems, said recently he was fed up

that Britons are facing higher energy bills because of the president's actions. We've seen the falling out of the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia

Meloni was a great friend of Donald Trump.

So, clearly, that seems to be over at this point. I mean, I wonder what your take is on the sort of erstwhile U.S. allies, reaction and indeed, the

global economy.

EL-ERIAN: Yeah, and Rachel Reeves went even further, calling it a folly, going calling the war a folly, which, believe me, attracted a lot of

attention in the U.S. Look, one of the big ironies of this war is that the U.S. will outperform the rest of the world, even though the U.S. and Israel

started the war, the hit that the U.S. economy will take is a fraction of what Europe will feel.

It's a fraction of what Asia will feel. So, you know, if you're sitting in Asia or you're sitting in Africa -- in Europe, you're saying, wait a

minute, so you started a war which they don't believe in, and we get hit hardest. That's not fair. And I feel sorry for the UK, because if you look

at the IMF forecast, the UK had the worst revisions in its outlook.

Growth almost at stall speed, inflation going up to 4 percent unemployment at 5.6 percent. So, the UK is particularly bad hit, and you see that

reaction from the transfer.

ANDERSON: Yeah, and its growth trajectory was already poor as we, you know, look at the long tail for the next decade, of course. President Trump has

said that he will fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell if he doesn't step aside when his term expires next month.

Can you just explain what's going on here and you know how significant this missive is from the president?

EL-ERIAN: It is significant. What's going on is the following. Chair Powell's term as chair ends on May 15th, but he can stay on the board until

early 2028. We have a nominee to replace Chair Powell. His name is Kevin Warsh, highly respected. The problem is that Kevin Warsh's path through the

Senate is complicated by this feud between President Trump and Chair Powell.

So, if on May 15th, Warsh isn't approved by the Senate, then Powell said he will stay on as acting chair, and that is a nightmare for the president,

who does not want Powell to stay on. So, Powell is -- so President Trump is threatening to fire Chair Powell, but not clear. He has the authority to do

this.

Already there's a Supreme Court case that we're waiting to hear on that has to do with one of the governors that President Trump. The bottom line is a

very messy transition at a really important time for economic policies.

ANDERSON: It's always good to have you, Mohamed, thank you very much indeed. You spent a long time in the UK, so I'm sure you will be into your

soccer one way or another, and that is what we are doing next. So, thank you, soccer or football, of course, as it's really known.

We are getting to the business end of this year's Champions League campaign, two semifinal spots left up for grabs. More on that is after

this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: Well, it was another thrilling night of Champions League action on Tuesday, you'll know that if you're a football fan, as two teams book

their place in the semifinals. Later today, two more teams will join them. All lives will be on the clash of the titans between Real Madrid and Bayern

Munich with 21 Champions League titles between them.

Coy Wire has a lot more on that in what, excuse me, "World Sport" after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

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