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Connect the World
Leading Challenger to UK Prime Minister Quits Government; UK Cabinet Minister Resigns, Could Mount Leadership Challenge; at Least Five Dead in Kyiv After Wave of Overnight Strikes; Israel-Lebanon Talks Get Underway in Washington, D.C.; March Marks Israel's 1967 Capture of East Jerusalem. Aired 9-9:45a ET
Aired May 14, 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: Well, live pictures from Downing Street in London, after a potential challenger to the British Prime
Minister resigns from the government. It is 02:00 p.m. in London, it is 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson.
You're watching "Connect the World" from our Middle East programming headquarters. Also coming up, President Xi hailed U.S.-China relations as
the world's most consequential but he warns Donald Trump on Taiwan. And rescuers are searching for those missing after an apartment building in
Kyiv is hitting a major Russian attack.
It is 04:00 p.m. there in the Ukrainian capital, and it's 09:00 a.m. in New York. Wall Street opens about 30 minutes from now, and if the futures
market is any indication these indices, the three major indices in New York likely to open higher today. Well, the UK appears to be one step closer to
an attempt to oust the current prime minister.
Wes Streeting resigned as health minister just an hour ago, observers say he could mount a leadership challenge to the embattled Keir Starmer,
pressure growing on the defiant PM after his Labor Party suffered huge losses in local elections last week. I want to bring in CNN's Clare
Sebastian in London.
Feels like the clock is ticking for Keir Starmer. What can we expect to come at this stage?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, but it feels like we've just had the biggest step yet towards a leadership race, although we have not
actually seen the official start of one yet. Wes Streeting letter to the prime minister was about his resignation, not an official launch of his own
bid to challenge Keir Starmer, which obviously begs the question as to whether he's got the required backing of 81 Labor MPs, that's 20 percent of
the parliamentary party.
But either way, this was a huge blow to Keir Starmer. I want to read you a couple of bits of that letter. It was pretty personal and pretty direct. He
said, at one point where we need vision, we have a vacuum, where we need direction, we have drift. And he goes on to say, pretty clearly, it is now
clear that you will not lead the Labor Party into the next general election.
Look, I think this definitely did not come out of the blue for Keir Starmer. There was a meeting that the two of them held yesterday morning,
right before the king's speech, a very short meeting and sweet. He alludes to this in his letter, and said, you knew then that I had lost confidence
in your leadership.
As for the prime minister, where, as far as we know right now, he is sticking to the position that he is staying in power, and according to his
spokesperson, speaking earlier today, he aims to run in any leadership race, should one be officially started. And I think a measure of the chaos
that we're seeing here is it was barely an hour before Streeting's letter came out.
That the prime minister spokesperson was reiterating their position, that they stated on Wednesday that they had full confidence in the health
secretary, who saw some pretty positive statistics come out of the national health service this morning. So, look, I think what's next?
It's not 100 percent given that there will be a leadership race at this point, this step by Wes Streeting may get us a little bit closer, but I
think it is very clear that this deepens the crisis for the prime minister.
ANDERSON: And I just wonder what you feel the consequences of all of this are for the United Kingdom at this point.
SEBASTIAN: Becky, could you repeat the question? It's a little loud out here in Downing Street.
ANDERSON: I can hear it. I just wonder what you think the consequences of this sort of, you know, massive infighting in the governing Labor Party is
for a Britain, the British economy for the UK.
SEBASTIAN: Look, I think there is a lot of concern around that. This is a question that came up for the prime minister spokesperson this morning.
They the line that Downing Street is sticking to is that they've had some positive GDP numbers this morning, some positive statistics, as I said on
the National Health Service.
And that they are citing as evidence that doing anything to upset Keir Starmer's leadership would, in the words of the chancellor this morning,
plunge the country into chaos. On the flip side, you could argue, and certainly the opponents of Keir Starmer are that the chaos is already here,
and in order to stop it, you have to have a change of leadership.
And I think we can also Becky, look to the bond markets this week. They're not shooting up in any sustained way today, but we have seen a rise after
those disastrous results of the local elections last week for the Labor Party.
[09:05:00]
And as these sorts of rumors around challenges to Starmer's leadership have come true. There is concern in the bond markets that anyone who comes after
summer might be further to the left, might be, you know, keen on more government spending, and that could lead to a further rise in borrowing
costs for the UK.
So, I think staying where we are now, in this strange, surreal sort of infighting and paralysis, doesn't seem like a good option on either side.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you. And I do just want to bring up the currency, if we can, we got the British pound there for us. Yeah, the
British pound off a little bit against the dollar, but I have to say that's about an eighth of 1 percent and it's steady around that 135 level.
I can tell you that it was nine years ago that the pound dropped from about 170 to 135 that is effectively its Brexit sort of level on the dollar, the
British pound on the euro, actually just slightly higher today. So, I don't think it would be fair to say that what is going on in the UK at the moment
is having an enormous impact on the currency, but well worth keeping an eye on nonetheless.
Well, achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand. That is how China's Leader Xi
Jinping is describing his outlook for U.S.-China relations after the first day of what is and it sounds like a cliche, but I'm going to say it.
This is a high stakes summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, the leaders heaping praise on each other at a state banquet as Xi hosts President Trump
in Beijing for the first time since 2017. Let's have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Respond of commerce and respect that stretches back 250 years is the foundation for a
future that benefits both of our nations. The American and Chinese people, share much in common. We value hard work. We value courage and achievement.
We love our families and we love our countries.
Together, we have the chance to draw on these values to create a future of greater prosperity, cooperation and happiness and peace for our children.
We love our children this region and the world. It's a special world, with the two of us united and together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Mike Valerio has been watching events unfold in Beijing. He joins me now. Mike, Trump thanking she for the quote special relationship.
Just unpack where we are at here.
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting, Becky, because we have very few details as to where exactly we are, and we can forgive you
for dipping into the cliche of high stakes summit certainly consequential. But what is striking now, after the sun is set and everybody has gone home
from the state dinner in the Great Hall of the People.
We're all trying to figure out what exactly the phrase means of constructive, strategic, stable relationship that these two sides agreed
upon to describe how they want to move forward. Doesn't seem as though we have any details that haven't been talked about before.
But, you know, we got to admit here that the trip is just over halfway finished, and a lot of the nitty gritty details are expected to be worked
out in the center of the Communist Party complex that is Zhongnanhai, where high ranking Communist Party officials live.
It's just to the west of the forbidden city, where we're expecting a lot of one-on-one time between Chinese Leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald
Trump. That's where both of these leaders tend to thrive and really hammer out the details during these summits, regardless of what world leader they
are with.
You know, I was striking as you mentioned the warning about Taiwan, how the day certainly gravitated quite quickly from the pageantry to that warning
and also how President Trump very much lean into what he perceives to be his personal rapport with Xi Jinping.
Analysts in this town, politicos will say it's not a rapport, it's just business as usual with Xi carrying out the business of state. And Xi was
really struck as he sort of tried to lean into the breath of history to further his argument that these two superpowers need not run into
confrontation.
I mean, Thucydides was referenced the ancient Greek philosopher who wrote in the year 400 BC that Athens and Sparta came into conflict because of
Sparta being suspicious that Athens was a rising power and rising too fast. So, citing centuries of history saying that, that does not need to repeat
itself between the United States and China.
And Becky, you know, as soon as that whole song and dance was finished, we went out to the streets of Beijing to interview myriad people about what
they felt, and they very much reflected that optimism. So, we want to get some Chinese voices on the air, the voices of the people. Let's listen to
about 40 seconds of them, and we'll come back on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As ordinary people, of course, we don't hope for any conflict between the two countries. Both are major power.
[09:10:00]
If there is conflict, it is actually not very good for either country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump's policies of imposing external sanctions have actually further galvanized us to strive for self-reliance and
independence. In that respect, I actually quite like this president.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope the two countries can reach a consensus, both countries will develop in a better direction, and I hope there will be
better economic policies and better relations between the two countries. In all aspects, I hope for a better future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALERIO: That comment in the middle I find most interesting. Chuan Jianguo, excuse me, Chuan Jianguo, that is the correct Mandarin pronunciation for
kind of a nickname that President Trump has here in China, of nation builder of so many people across China feeling as though he and his
policies are leading to China becoming stronger.
So, what remains to be seen, how China, if at all, will help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, ending the conflict in the war in Iran. Those details
we're expecting more clarity when these two gentlemen get back together tomorrow, Becky.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, Mike. Thank you very much indeed. Mike is in Beijing, we are in Abu Dhabi, and I want to take you to Iran now, where
CNN's Matthew Chance is there with photo journalist Alex Platt with an inside look at how the war is impacting Iranians.
Would like to note CNN only operates there with the permission of the Iranian government, as required under local regulations, but we maintain
full editorial control over what the network reports. Have a look at this.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're on a long drive towards the Iranian capital, but we've had to stop because we've
come to a bridge that was struck by a U.S. or an Israeli air strike during the recent bombing campaign.
You can see a whole section of it has fallen into the river. And if you look around over here, all the cars and trucks have had to go around on
this detour. When you consider all the other roads and bridges that have been hit, it's added hours to the journey time. Well before we arrived in
Iran, some Iranians told us, don't go in, it's too dangerous.
The war could resume at any time, especially amid growing tensions over the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the failure of the U.S. and Iran to
reach a compromise over nuclear activities. But with President Trump on that state visit to China, both the U.S. and Iran seem to be looking to
Beijing as a possible way out of their deadlock.
Iran is China, or China is Iran's major trading partner. China buys most of Iranian oil. Has a shared interest with Washington in getting the energy
supplies unblocked. Meanwhile, here in Iran, we're glimpsing how the country is being shaped by the conflict and the pressure it's under from
crowds of Iranians at the border.
We've just been to hauling cook and oil across from Turkey, where it's much cheaper, an acute cost of living crisis, remember, sparked nationwide
protests late last year that ended in horrific violence, to the words of one Iranian father, who told me that what he called Trump's war had
silenced people and made the Iranian government stronger in his words, at least for now. Matthew Chance, CNN on the long road to Tehran.
ANDERSON: Well, a huge wave of Russian strikes overnight in Ukraine's capital left at least five people dead. Drones, missile bombarded several
parts Kyiv, leaving 39 people injured. According to authorities there. Our Nick Paton Walsh is in the City of Kharkiv and sent this report.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: A particularly huge Russian assault on Ukraine the last 24 hours, the sirens
just going off again here in Kharkiv, and the street cleaners here to wash the bloods off the streets, injuries here in Kharkiv, but the larger toll
in the capital of Kyiv.
1500 just short of drones fired in the last 24 hours, over 50 missiles and the whole side of a residential building torn down in Kyiv. Dozens rescued
from that site, already children, already among the injured, and as President Trump visits China, Ukrainian officials pointing to an onslaught
like this as a reminder that Russia's offer of a limited ceasefire in the last week isn't a reflection of them actually wanting peace.
Ukraine's interceptor drones able to take some of the damage out of these assaults, but ultimately still the threat of constant Russian bombardment,
particularly in these horrific images that we're now seeing emerging from Kyiv.
[09:15:00]
That rubble being combed through as the toll of injured and dead rises, a sign of how much Ukraine continues to endure, despite now having
technological advantages and during warfare that much of the world is covered as well. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
ANDERSON: Right. You can get all the latest news and analysis of the conflict on our digital platforms, of course, including this piece on why
Russia's battlefield winning streak may now be finally coming to an end. That is your CNN app, CNN.com of course, and all access.
Well, next up, cross border violence between Israel and Lebanon pushing the ceasefire between the two closes to breaking point. We are going to look at
whether talks in Washington can reach a breakthrough.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, a stark warning about the future of Gaza from the official in charge of implementing the U.S. broken ceasefire. Nickolay Mladenov,
appointed by Donald Trump's Board of Peace, says that failing to advance the deal could leave Gaza in a dangerous status, quote, especially as
Israel's buffer zone, bounded by the so-called yellow line, continues to expand. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICKOLAY MLADENOV, HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR GAZA: I want to talk a little bit more now about where we stand with that. Seven months since the
beginning of this initiative. We have a ceasefire. It is holding. It is not perfect. It is far from perfect. There are violations every day, and some
of them are very serious, and let's be honest about these violations and what they mean in practice.
They mean that civilians still are being killed, that families live in fear that delays and restrictions continue to affect humanitarian access and
daily life for many Palestinians in Gaza, in fact, for all Palestinians in Gaza. The war does not yet feel fully over, and I think this is the reality
that we all and the board of peace and our partners recognize fully work with me on this.
What does the status quo look like? A status quo is not just having the situation that we have today. A status quo actually means at some point,
solidifying the yellow line, probably into a fence, probably into a wall, creating a permanent separation in Gaza. And at that point, it really
doesn't matter where the yellow line is, but Gaza is gone.
And if anyone wants to convince me that the Palestinian people in Gaza would like to see the Gaza Strip divided in that way, with 2 million of
them stuck in a smaller, more compactly populated part of Gaza. I'm not convinced. I don't believe that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[09:20:00]
ANDERSON: Nickolay Mladenov speaking here. Yesterday in Jerusalem. Well right now in Washington, talks are getting underway between officials from
Lebanon and Israel. The latest round of U.S. mediated discussions comes as new violence between Israel and the Iran backed Hezbollah based in Lebanon,
tests the limits of the shaky ceasefire.
At least 12 people were killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon on Wednesday, while Hezbollah said it attacked Israeli military posts. Jeremy Diamond
following developments from Jerusalem. And let's start with the talks in Washington. What do we know about those, Jeremy.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, the negotiations in Washington are set to kick off this hour, Becky, between the Israeli and
the Lebanese ambassadors to Washington for the third round of negotiations aimed at working towards the disarmament of Hezbollah, as well as the
eventual normalization of relations between Israel and Lebanon.
But in the backdrop of all of that, of course, what we have seen are continuous cross border attacks Israeli air strikes on a daily basis inside
of Southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah attacks against Israeli troops in Southern Lebanon, as well as towards Israel's northern communities.
But I do want to bring you to where I am right now, Becky, which is in the Old City of Jerusalem. We are in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, but as
you can see right here on my left, almost every single shop is shuttered in this area, largely at the request of Israeli law enforcement, and that's
because today is the Jerusalem Day flag parade that is carried out every single year.
It marks the what many view as the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967 following that Six Day War. But what has become common practice here, on
this day, on Jerusalem Day, is you also see, you know, groups of hundreds of young, very radical, very far right Israelis who come into this Muslim
Quarter and begin chanting anti-Arab slogans such as, may your village burn other racist and insulting chants towards Arabs as well.
And this has become fairly commonplace, as well as the attacks against journalists that we have seen every year on this day in recent years,
including today as well. There are thousands of other Israelis who also come out to this Jerusalem Day parade with very peaceful intentions as
well, here to celebrate, again, that reunification of Jerusalem, the fact that they can walk through the Old City of Jerusalem in a way that they
could not before the 1967 war.
But again, the broader context, of course, of the multi frontal wars that Israel has been engaged in. And of course, again, as I said, the rise of
ultra far right nationalist sentiment in Israel. Very much present on a day like this one.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you there, and it's an important day and an important event to be reporting on. And before I let you go, Jeremy, I do
want to show you these two posts here from the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, which present two
contradicting statements about whether or not Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, actually came to the UAE to meet the country's
president during what has been this most recent conflict. What more do we know at this point?
DIAMOND: Yeah, that's right, Becky, it was a pretty stunning announcement from the Israeli Prime Minister that he said that he had traveled to the
United Arab Emirates during the war with Iran, a visit that was not disclosed at the time, and still doesn't have a date attached to it, nor
any photos that the prime minister's office has released.
But it was framed very much by the Israeli Prime Minister as a historic visit, an increase in the level of relations between the United Arab
Emirates and Israel, which only officially normalized relations several years ago as part of the Abraham Accords, but then we had this shocking
statement from the UAE Foreign Ministry denying that the visit had in fact taken place at all.
And given the fact that we don't have any photos, it's hard for us to independently verify which account of the meeting or non-existence of the
meeting is in fact accurate. What is clear, though, is that regardless of whether or not there was a meeting, there has been extraordinarily close
cooperation between Israel and the UAE over the course of this war with Iran.
Indeed, this war seems to have brought the two countries closer together than ever, as Iran fired most of its firepower, frankly, at the UAE. And
Israel also assisted in defending the UAE, sending an Iron Dome battery to the United Arab Emirates as well as the Israeli military personnel to
actually man it, assisting the UAE with that air defense effort, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yeah, it's good to get you on that, Jeremy, thank you very much indeed.
[09:25:00]
It's 04:24 in Jerusalem. And let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now. And a dramatic rescue in the
Atlantic Ocean, 11 people on board a small plane that crashed off Florida's coast on Tuesday have been air lifted to a hospital after they spent five
hours in a life raft.
The FAA says the plane went down while flying between islands in the Bahamas, the cause of the crash is under investigation. Well Cuba's Energy
Minister says the country has run out of diesel. The energy crisis has led to protests like these over the past few days. The energy minister says a
Russian donation of oil in March has now been exhausted, meaning Cuba won't be able to fuel its electricity grid.
Well, trading is about to begin on the U.S. market. Stocks are set for a slightly higher open. We'll have the opening bell on Wall Street up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi. You're watching "Connect the World". These
are your headlines. Wes Streeting has resigned as Britain's Health Secretary, saying he has lost confidence in the Prime Minister Keir
Starmer.
Well, the move comes after days of speculation about whether Streeting would formally challenge Starmer's leadership of the UK's Labor Party. U.S.
President Donald Trump and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping praised each other in a state banquet in Beijing on the first day of their summit.
Xi held a new era of strategic, stable relations between the countries, but warned that Taiwan could damage Their relationship if mishandled. Well as
cross border violence flares officials from Israel and Lebanon and are in Washington for U.S. mediated talks. On Wednesday, health officials reported
12 people killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, while the Iran backed Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli military posts.
And the Russian military attacked Ukrainian capital Kyiv, with a massive barrage of drones and missiles overnight. New strikes left at least five
people dead, more than 30 injured. Ukraine's Foreign Minister says Russia's actions show it simply isn't serious about peace.
We are just seconds away from the opening bell on Wall Street investors closely monitoring events in Beijing. I think it is safe to say the White
House saying President Trump and Xi discussed economic cooperation and indicating progress was made on possible trade deals.
But we're going to need to await the specifics.
[09:30:00]
A promise from Donald Trump earlier on this week that the next sort of 72 hours bill be huge for the markets. Well, not convinced the markets are
buying into any serious sort of success in Beijing at this point. Blackstone ringing the bell on Wall Street today. Let's see how those
stocks are getting on the U.S. markets, on the futures, at least, indicating a better start this Thursday, but -- significantly --
So, let's have a look at what the DOW is up to, and up by about four fifths of 1 percent. We'll have a look and check in with the S&P and the NASDAQ
shortly. My gut tells me, having looked at the futures, that those markets will be up, but only by about a half of 1 percent.
So, keep an eye on these. I want to bring in Shehzad Qazi, who is Managing Director of China Beige Book, which is the world's largest private data
platform tracking the Chinese economy. So, sir, both come -- both sides coming to the table with different priorities.
For Trump, it seems, agricultural goods, aircraft sales, the war in Iran. Tell us what China's goals are here. And what you make of what you've heard
so far?
SHEHZAD QAZI, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CHINA BEIGE BOOK: Well, look, I think China's goals are to keep the relationship as stable as possible. In an
ideal world, they would see further tariff reductions taking place, and even a promise of no new tariffs.
But if they can have a generally positive visit by the president, a visit that, of course, the U.S. President essentially requested, I think that is
in and of itself, wind enough for China at this time.
ANDERSON: Would it be fair to say that Donald Trump has more to gain than Xi here? I mean, given the energy crisis his war in Iran has created. And
China presenting itself as a solutions provider and giving jet fuel and other countries around the world struggling to meet their energy needs.
I wonder whether the stage isn't set for Xi to really seize an opportunity to drive a wedge between the U.S. and its traditional partners at this
point.
QAZI: Well, look, I think, as even U.S. intelligence reporting has now shown, China is absolutely and President Xi will certainly, is absolutely
taking advantage of what is turning to be a rather disastrous expedition into Iran, while at the same time, the U.S. side is trying to make sure
that counter to what you heard in the press the last few days that Iran doesn't overtake this current summit.
And instead, if the president can walk out of Beijing with certain deals being announced around the purchases of soy beans, purchases of, you know,
jet engines and so forth, that would actually be fantastic for the administration. And that's exactly how the staff here, the U.S. government
has tried to shape the summit over the proceedings, months and into really even this week.
ANDERSON: Trump has bought the big guns of the corporate world, the U.S. corporate world, at least with him. What do you make of who is in this
delegation? What difference, if any, will this attempt, I guess, sort of flattery, make to the Chinese. After all, a number of these tech giants,
already do an awful lot of business with China.
QAZI: Yeah. I mean, they do awful lot of business. There are also a bunch of Wall Street leaders over there. Look, everybody wants to have the
opportunity to sell more into China, and that's exactly how this is being structured, if anything, especially when it comes to Nvidia, the U.S. side
is ready to sell the H200s to the Chinese.
But it's really the Chinese government which is dragging its feet and no longer sure that they want to be in the business of purchasing these Nvidia
chips at that one point, they certainly were very interested in buying.
ANDERSON: Let's just close this out with a discussion about the war in Iran, the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. What do you expect
might come out of this trip. There's another, what, 36 hours to go. We've seen the sort of, you know, the first sort of iteration, first day of this
trip.
What do you expect, if anything, to be achieved? We're seeing a very fragile ceasefire. And everybody here in the Gulf tells me that ceasefire
will hold, as it were, through this trip, it's what happens afterwards that everybody is really sort of focused on --
QAZI: Absolutely no firm commitments. I don't think from the Chinese side to do that much. Right, China's ability to press Iran to agree to any kind
of deal, it's very limited.
[09:35:00]
And they have no incentive to press Iran to accept a deal that would be seen as almost entirely favorable to the U.S. So I think China will
probably encourage President Trump to show greater flexibility in how they're dealing on the negotiation table with Iran, while perhaps
suggesting that they will continue to ask the Iranians to also be more flexible and continue working through Pakistan, which seems to be their
favorite approach towards this.
But I would not have very high hopes in terms of any kind of Iran breakthrough or anything big coming out.
ANDERSON: Yeah. Shehzad, it's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. Shehzad is the Managing Director of the China Beige Book. We'll check in
with you and the team as we move through the next 36 hours. Thank you. Let's just bring up the oil price just before we move on to a bit of sport
for you.
WTI crude trading at just above 100 at the moment, and Brent crude at about 104 still. You know, well above that $100 on the barrel level. Brent
though, and WTI crude just down slightly today. Right. Rory McIlroy has Ted off at the PGA Championship. His golfer from Northern Ireland is targeting
another major triumph. More on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, the Iranian men's football team got a rock a sendoff Wednesday before heading off to the World Cup. This Square in Central
Tehran was filled with flags and chants as the players took center stage. The Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was also part of the sendoff
ceremony wishing the players a successful trip to the United States.
So, they are off. These days, major sporting events seem to go hand in hand with big music acts. FIFA has today revealed that Madonna, Shakira and BTS
will co headline the first ever World Cup final half time show. Yep, the stars will be at New Jersey's Met Life Stadium on July the 19th.
It will all be curated by cold plays front man, Chris Martin, with proceeds going to FIFA's Global Citizen Education Fund. Well, early last year, the
golf world was wondering if Rory McIlroy would ever win another major. Well, fast forward. Everyone is now asking just how many more he will win.
Fresh off a second straight green jacket of course, the golf from Northern Ireland looks to end a decade long drought at the PGA Champions Chevron.
Amanda Davies joining me now. And Rory saying this week that he's in as good a spot mentally as he's ever been. As he targets more major
championships, I don't think anybody is going to write him out of this year's trophies, Amanda, right?
[09:40:00]
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: No, and even with that blister on his little toe on his foot.
ANDERSON: Yes.
DAVIES: We -- I think there are a lot of people holding their breath having seen him on Tuesday, sitting with his shoe and sock off on the fairway.
Having completed just three holes of his practice round, he limped off course.
ANDERSON: Yeah.
DAVIES: His team were looking for new shoes. They didn't know what was going on, but he did say ahead of the opening round today, he's pleasantly
surprised how brave he's been and how little trouble it has causing him. I think there'll be a good few bits of plaster and paracetamol doing the
rounds there.
ANDERSON: Yeah.
DAVIES: But yeah, he's very much being talked about as one to watch over the next couple of days at the PGA Championship, of course, looking to
build on that master's success. But it is still last year's winner.
ANDERSON: Yeah.
DAVIES: The world number one, Scottie Scheffler, who is being talked about as the favorite despite having only won one tournament so far this year.
That's really unusual for him by this point. He's normally got a couple under his belt, but he's had a few runners up finishes, and it's all about
finding that momentum at the right time, isn't it?
ANDERSON: Yeah.
DAVIES: So yeah, all to play for this weekend being talked about as a really, really tough course, the PGA championship, but just very much into
in the early stages as things stand, we've got plenty more coming up in "World Sport" and of course, over the next few days.
ANDERSON: Yeah. Good. And before I let you go, I've got to ask you about the World Cup Final Halftime Act, which doesn't normally happen in
football, or as the Americans call it, soccer. And so, listen the proceeds from this. The upside is it's a massive event. The proceeds are going to go
towards a really good cause.
I've got a bit of a downside that it's happening at all. How do you feel about this event and lineup?
DAVIES: I mean, I love a bit of Shakira. I'm not going to lie. So that gets the tick for me. I have to say I'm somebody --
ANDERSON: Yes --
DAVIES: I'm a football traditionalist. I love a World Cup final has enough drama in and of itself as far as I'm concerned. We just had to see what
played out in Qatar four years ago. I mean, people have already said that they feel that the pre-World Cup final show goes too far, and now we have
this halftime show.
It's going to be very, very different. But from the outset, with everything involved with this World Cup, the first hosted over three countries, the
first with 48 teams, everything around it, on and off the pitch that we've been talking about, we know this is going to be a World Cup with a
difference.
And I think that is very much going to be the case from start all the way through to finish, but I'm going to be there, Becky, so I will be able to
report back in person having lived and breathed it.
ANDERSON: Good. Yeah. Lucky you. All right. Thank you for that. "World Sport" is up after this. More from us in 15 minutes.
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[09:45:00]
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