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Connect the World

Iran Refutes Trump's Claim About Talks Resuming Monday; Senate Panel Votes on Todd Blanche Attorney General Nomination; Major Wildfire West of Athens Destroys Farms and Homes; Two Arrested on Suspicion of Negligence Over Greece Wildfire; Man Arrested on Arson Charge as Crews Battle Multiple Blazes. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired August 04, 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, Iran has one last chance to make a deal. That is the latest from the U.S. President. It is 09:00

a.m. in Washington. It's 02:00 p.m. here in London. I'm Becky Anderson. You're watching "Connect the World".

Also coming up, Trump's nomination for U.S. Attorney General hangs in the balance today. Does Todd Blanche have the votes from key U.S. Senators? And

will be live this hour in Greece, where wildfires continue to ravish homes and vast tracts of land. Stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes

from now.

We're looking at a higher start on Wall Street, as oil prices continue to fall. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC earlier that the U.S. and

Iran could reach a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday or Wednesday. He said a deal would allow commercial ships to move freely through the

strait.

Let's see. Well, Donald Trump himself says Iran has a quote, last chance to sign a peace deal. But the U.S. President not placing a deadline on

negotiations, saying it's because he's not on the ballot in November's midterm elections. He also calls Iranian leaders unbelievably duplicitous

as he and Iranian officials dispute his account that talks between the countries are underway.

Iran today threatened to strike American war ships if the U.S. naval blockade reimposed last month continues. Alayna Treene connecting us from

the White House. Unbelievably duplicitous is how Donald Trump then describes the Iranians. A source regionally told me yesterday that the

U.S., Iran, and Oman are in discussions.

Not clear whether those are direct negotiations, though, between the U.S. and Iran at this point. What are you hearing there?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I've been catching up with my White House sources here, Becky. And look, part of the reason you

heard the president use that language yesterday, saying that Iran is incredibly duplicitous, is I was told by one White House official that he

was fuming yesterday when he was seeing all of the reports from the Iranians, essentially arguing that no.

They had no plans to move forward with talks and negotiations on this and that, you know, Iran was saying that they were solely having these

negotiations with the Omanis. You know, White House officials argue that's just not the case. What they told me, and of course, as we've seen

throughout this entire war, Becky, a lot of this is you know, you get one version of events from the U.S. side, another version of events from the

Iranians.

But they argue that there was a huge uptick in reach out from the Iranians and from different officials, people like the Foreign Minister Abbas

Araghchi, to U.S. officials directly throughout the weekend, trying to solve particularly this issue on the Strait of Hormuz.

I do want to note that the latest we've heard on a potential deal is coming from the Qataris today. A spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry

arguing that there are drafts of a potential agreement that are being circulated and that all parties are in discussions here.

But from the president's view, he's willing to see how this goes. I think, from the conversations I've been having, he's very much in a wait and see

kind of place and posture right now. He does, of course, his ultimate goal, which has been the same goal really from the beginning, is he wants there

to be some sort of long term, permanent deal to both reopen the strait, have free flow of traffic through that key waterway, and also a deal on

nuclear.

The issue has been, of course, can they actually get there? Particularly after the strikes, we've seen exchange between both countries in recent

weeks, really continuing to chip away at the lack of trust between these two countries. There's also a different issue that's been developing here

in Washington, Becky, which is there are many people and White House officials acknowledge this in my conversations with them.

Many people in the intelligence community that aren't confident that the Iranians will ever agree to a deal or ever honor any sort of commitments

that they might make, and so that's adding to this as well. The president, for his part, though, wants to give diplomacy a chance, but he's also

reserving the right to continue with the tax, if needed.

[09:05:00]

So unclear where this leads, but I know currently they're optimistic that there will be some sort of announcement regarding the strait in the coming

days.

ANDERSON: Good to have you. Thank you for that. We are also hearing, well, I mean, I think we've I think you've pretty much covered that off. That

significant statement from the Qatari Foreign Minister today. So, let's leave it there for the time being. Thank you, Alayna.

Happening on Capitol Hill this hour, the Senate Judiciary Committee set to vote on Todd Blanche's nomination to be permanent U.S. Attorney General.

The vote's been on hold for a week over concerns raised by two key Republicans. Both have now signaled that they are on board after Blanche

formally rescinded President Trump's controversial $1.8 billion anti- weaponization fund, as it's been called.

Joining us now to discuss is Senior Politics Reporter Stephen Collinson and Corey Brettschneider, who is Political Science Professor at Brown

University, also the author of "The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It". And a

joy good read that is to Corey, thank you.

Stephen, let's start with you. What do we know about the White House's involvement in all of this? This Blanche's order to formally rescind the

president's anti-weaponization fund. Just explain what we understand to be going on here.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, the president said that he didn't have anything to do with this, although there is reporting,

not surprising, and that says that Senior White House officials were involved in this compromise to rescind this fund to try to get Todd

Blanche's confirmation through the Senate.

You remember it's been held up by two Republican senators who are leaving the chamber after the midterm elections, John Cornyn of Texas and Thom

Tillis of North Carolina. They had been objecting to this fund, which was set up under an extraordinary award of damages to Trump over his past legal

issues with the U.S. government, which is effectively supposed to be paid by the U.S. government, that's a $10 billion fund.

So, this deal was done. I think we have to say that there are certain loopholes in Blanche's rescinding of this deal. I don't think there's any

guarantee that the president won't go back to this at some time in the future if Blanche is confirmed. Even though they are currently arguing in

the Justice Department.

And these two senators, the key senators, have said that for them, this is probably going to be enough to get them to vote for Blanche's confirmation.

So, a real Trumpian intrigue, I think, that probably hasn't ended like many other Trump intrigues.

ANDERSON: Corey, do you believe that this strengthens or weakens the perceived dependence or independence. I'm not quite sure what to say these

days of the U.S. Justice Department.

COREY BRETTSCHNEIDER, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR AT BROWN UNIVERSITY: Well, that's a great way to frame it because it is all about the dependence

of the Justice Department, not just on the president, but on the president's personal vengeance tour and desires.

The Department of Justice is supposed to be independent, and as you just heard from your great Reporter Stephen Collinson, you know that that's very

much in question. I'm just going to add to that the real question of whether or not the deal is dead with the IRS and also the with a -- multi-

billion-dollar fund here.

The question. is whether or not the lawsuit that stopped the fund has been stopped. And on my podcast, "The Oath in the Office", I had an exclusive

interview with the person who brought that lawsuit, Skye Perryman and her amazing group Democracy Forward.

And what she said on the podcast, which I'd love to see reported more widely, is they haven't dropped it, so this acting attorney general can say

anything that he wants, and he's pretending sometimes that it's over. He's catering to Trump. You know, it's like he's got his fingers crossed as he

says it.

It's not dead because they continue to fight in court. So, as I see it, you know, he's doing exactly what you said, trying to get these votes without

really doing the job of dropping this ridiculous deal with himself, where Trump has promised himself on a deal with the IRS this insane settlement.

So, it might be enough in our current politics to get the vote. But the other question is, you know, what happens with the fund and what happens in

November as people judge this president on his vengeance story.

ANDERSON: Yeah, that's it's going to be fascinating to see. Stephen, were there ever any real concerns this nomination would fail, or is it, and was

it, or was pretty much a done deal that it would head to the full Senate?

[09:10:00]

COLLINSON: I don't think it was a done deal because these two senators, Tillis and Cornyn, have great resentment about Trump, considering both of

them are now his political adversaries. Cornyn, in fact, was ousted from his seat by a Trump-backed challenger in the primary.

But a cynic would say that this Republican majority in the House and the Senate has shown itself to be ultimately very pliable when Trump really

wants something and pushes for it. So, in that sense, I think there was always the likelihood that some kind of deal could be done to save face for

these senators and allow this to go through.

We'll see what happens when it goes to the full Senate. The Blanche can only lose two senators and still get confirmed. There are still some

Republicans who seem to be a little concerned about the nomination. Although they also appear to be following the example of Tillis and Cornyn,

who they saw as the trailblazers here that were taking all the heat from the president.

One to watch would be Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican who's facing a very difficult re-election race in November. Perhaps if they can get the

numbers, the Senate leadership would allow her to vote against this for political reasons, but ultimately, we're into August.

The senators want to go home, and when you start to smell the jet fuel in summer in Washington, things that the president wants tend to get done

rather quickly.

ANDERSON: Corey, what president, if any, do you think this sets for future cabinet nominees?

BRETTSCHNEIDER: Well, I mean, you know, I'm going to go back to the founding and then get to your question. The whole idea of the resistance to

monarchy, and that's what our country was supposed to be doing, was setting up a republican, not a monarchy, republican government, and with a small R.

And you know a lot of people worried you don't have -- you have a system in which the attorney general seems to be working for the president. And what

the Federalists set back the people who are defending the Constitution was well we have confirmation that's the check on monarchy.

Well, if you have an attorney general who is willing to do essentially authoritarian an authoritarian job, rather than the job of defending the

American people, all the norms are out. And so, what the precedent is here is nothing less than the destruction of the idea that we have a rule of law

in this country, rather than the rule of one man, Donald Trump.

So, it is just a terrible upending of the norms established, especially after the Nixon Administration, attorney generals legendary like Ed Levi,

the Former President of University of Chicago, stressed no conversation with the president. And so, when you even saw a president talk on a tarmac

with an attorney general, even the suspicion of discussion was enough to raise concerns.

And now we've just blown all those norms out of the water. It's already happened. Hopefully, there'll be some chance that this vote is stopped

because you know this is a vote on whether or not to affirm an attorney general who's willing to shut down the opposition.

ANDERSON: Well, we wait to see what actually happens. It does, though, seem as if he does now have the vote. Stephen, assuming that he is confirmed,

what are the biggest issues awaiting Blanche when he gets his feet under that desk permanently?

COLLINSON: Well, the attorney general has extraordinary powers and purview. Violent crime, they get involved in anti-terrorism cases, the upholding the

rule of law through the government's cases, and all across finance, the economy, international issues. But Corey's point is, I think the right one

the -- what will be on his desk.

What many people fear is the thing that Donald Trump puts on his desk. And that's probably going to be some of these cases that Trump has demanded

against some of his enemies, like Former FBI Chief James Comey. Look at the case of the White House reflecting pool.

Trump decided that there was a massive case of vandalism, all but forced the D.C. District Attorney Jeanine Pirro to bring a case. That case falls

apart when it hits contact with reality. But that shows how Trump wants to use his allies in the law enforcement posts of the government to enforce

his will.

So that is why so many people are worried about Blanche's future role and what he will do? And let's just remember, Blanche is not just any legal

official. He's Donald Trump's former personal lawyer.

ANDERSON: Good to have you both. Always a pleasure. Thank you.

[09:15:00]

Well, coming up after the break, Europe continues to blaze, hundreds being evacuated in Greece today as a huge wildfire there, spreads despite

firefighting efforts small. Coming up. And wildfires also raging on the other side of the Atlantic. The details on the outlook for conditions in

Washington State now arson may have been involved.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: European ministers say they stand united and ready to help Spain protect its borders after an influx of migrants. Interior ministers have

been holding an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Spain's North African territory of Ceuta. Far-right anti-immigrant politicians stoking

fears of a quote, invasion after some 60,000 people made a chaotic and dangerous crossing from Morocco.

CNN Portugal's Helena Lins gets us this update.

HELENA LINS, CNN PORTUGAL REPORTER: It's been four days since thousands of migrants entered Ceuta, coming from this border with Morocco. The majority

has gone back, but according to the local government, about 3 to 5000 are still here, and around, or actually more than 800 are minors.

And these are the numbers that the local government has given today. But they might go up, especially the numbers of minors, because these are the

ones that have been identified and taken to shelters for minors. But it is very likely that some of them are still on the streets of Ceuta.

They might have -- they might be hiving because they are afraid that if they are taken by authorities, they might just be dropped near the border,

so they have to go back to Morocco, or they might have been taken by locals that are trying to help. So, minors are the priority, they are the most

vulnerable, but also a lot of adults, young adults, are staying on the streets of Ceuta.

This morning, a lot of them were on a beach, the nearest beach to the temporary shelter for youngsters and adults. It is completely full, so it's

not taking any migrants at the moment. So, these hundreds of people are just staying on the beach with the military around. This morning they got

water from the military.

And we also know that this afternoon Red Cross was also on the beach giving some help. As I said, after four days, most of them complaining they

haven't been able to find any water and any food.

ANDERSON: Well, extreme heat still tightening its grip on Europe, hundreds have been evacuated in Greece as the region of Athens remains at high risk.

Wildfires west of the Greek capital jumped containment lines after two firefighting helicopters crashed, trying to contain the blaze on Sunday.

[09:20:00]

Strong winds also pushed flames into mountain home clusters, destroying farms and property, and closing a highway. Local residents devastated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is as if my heart has been torn out, because it was a beautiful place. We spent our summers here. We have spent happy times

here, and there is nothing anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, journalist Elinda Labropoulu is on the ground for us from Parga in Greece. And Elinda, you've been learning more about these

evacuations and how authorities are coping with the ongoing blaze. Explain.

ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: Well, the evacuations have been ongoing, and especially through the early morning hours, residents have been talking

about firefighters coming door to door and asking them to leave within just five minutes. This is because the fire was approaching their homes so

quickly.

Luckily, the evacuations so far have gone smoothly, and firefighters are now telling us that they are very close to being able to at least partially

contain these fires. The big mega fire that's burning close to Athens, which has caused all this immense devastation, is now under control.

And the partial control in it is a fragile situation is the way that they are describing. And this means that the residents are now going back,

looking at their properties, trying to assess what's happening, joining the many -- this summer that have found themselves in similar situations.

ANDERSON: And despite improved detection methods and, of course, more cooperation with the EU, Greece does continue to suffer these devastating

wildfires, Elinda, every year. I mean, what's the conversation locally about what more needs to be done to avert disaster of this scale?

LABROPOULOU: Well, first of all, Greece has changed its penal code. It has criminalized arson. It has given very severe penalties that go up to life

sentences in the case of deliberate arson that causes death, that causes a loss of life. So, this is one of the many things that have been happening.

Greece has also been buying a number of aircraft. What has happened in this particular case, however, is that the conditions were so extreme that none

of this fire craft has been able to take part in these operations. And this is a more general debate across Europe as conditions become more extreme

every year.

Another part of the debate has a lot to do with vegetation, and basically, this is very much behind me. You know, you see places full of pine trees,

vegetation that is very fire-prone, is a fire hazard, basically. And how all this needs to be reassessed and changed. And finally, in a country

where tourism is so much, is such a big part of the economy.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

LABROPOULOU: Really, how much is tourism stressing the resources that could be going to fire prevention.

ANDERSON: Yeah, understandable. And apologies, viewers, for the quality of the sound on that. It is clearly very windy there. Elinda, thank you.

Spokane County in eastern Washington State has been battling three raging wildfires. And police there say a man has now been arrested on an arson

charge in connection with one of those blazes since sparking Saturday.

These fires have destroyed more than 700 structures and displaced tens of thousands of residents and across the state. Crews rushing to contain 17

major wildfires. Some charred areas are looking like quote, a war zone, leaving nothing but smoke behind. Well, CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam

with us all week.

And you've been monitoring live from the weather center, what is going on and what we might expect next? What have you got, Derek?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All right. I want to show you some new satellite images brought into CNN. This is fascinating, also heartbreaking

to see the devastation that these wildfires have done in Spokane County. Remember, this is eastern Washington State across the Pacific Northwest of

the U.S.

This is one of the local neighborhoods loaned us a lot of the tree lines. This satellite image was taken in June of this year. Fast forward to after

the event, you can see the smoke and the flames through the smoke and some of the charred remains. I mean, here's a close-up image.

This is really fascinating to watch. So, this is taken again in June. Now we fast forward past the event, and you can see the buildings and the homes

that have been completely leveled. But I also want to point out the active firefighting efforts. That is a fire truck with one of their hoses trying

to douse the flames.

And then here's another astounding satellite image taken before the fires and then after the fires.

[09:25:00]

And you can see the fire-retardant right here, that pink line that is dropped from the large air tankers that fly overhead that try to stop the

forward progression of the forward flank of the fires. Nonetheless, firefighting efforts, regardless of the favorable weather that we've had

over the past 38, 36 hours, have had a difficult time gaining any kind of containment on the three large wildfires surrounding Spokane.

There accumulated over 10,000 acres of burned territory area and 0 percent containment. The winds have been very favorable, light, calm at best. But

it's going to pick up through the course of this week, especially as we head into Friday and Saturday. You can see that on the map.

And then to make matters worse, the temperatures are going to start to increase across the burned areas. Remember, it's not just the fires in

Spokane. There are several active large fires across Washington, Oregon, and much of the western U.S. But this is not a forecast that we want to see

with temperatures increasing, no rainfall to help extinguish the flames.

And we all know the byproduct of the wildfires is the smoke, and the quality of the air has gone downhill on the west coast. Here is a live look

at Seattle. This is the Space Needle. You may have visited this very popular city across the Pacific Northwest. Well, here's the problem, the

active large fires, including Spokane, have seen the billowing smoke drift towards the Pacific Northwest, and is expected to drift along the west

coast and west of the Rockies.

The Colorado Rockies stretch north and south right through the Canadian border. And it's trapping all of this bad quality of air from Denver to

Boise to Seattle, maybe even into San Francisco, as the winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere distribute the smoke from the active wildfires.

Some of the worst quality of the air in the world is found here across the Pacific Northwest, and that is unfortunate because it is so bad for people

with vulnerable upper respiratory issues like asthma, any predetermined issues, health issues. This is unhealthy to breathe, Becky.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Worrying stuff. Thank you. Well, chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz being called the new weapons of

geopolitical power. Just ahead, an expert weighs in on how the impound all of this impacts the global economy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

ANDERSON: All right, that is the team from ADI Global, also distributor of security, and they are responsible for the opening bell on Wall Street this

Tuesday. A decent set of numbers for the indices yesterday in its Monday session, so the futures are also indicating a better start to the trading

day again this Tuesday.

We will see how stocks are getting on at the open. Certainly, as I say, futures pointing higher. The Dow Jones Industrial, we will pull up for you.

We'll let the NASDAQ and the S&P settle a little bit, and there you go. The Dow Jones out of the gate, one and a quarter percent plus change higher for

you.

A staggering declaration from the world's top oil exporter, Saudi Aramco's Chief, says more than 2.5 billion barrels of crude have been lost from

global supplies because of the war with Iran. That, of course, has pushed oil prices higher. Saudi Aramco saw its own second quarter profits soar by

44 percent.

Now there is some interesting context around that massive profit headline. I want you to listen to President Trump yesterday talking about oil

companies. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They're making too much money, OK. Based on a shortage, they're making too much money. I don't

like it, and I should be the last one to say because I'm a big free enterprise guy. Nobody bigger.

And you know, you're going to see oil when we're finished with Iran. You're going to see the prices drop through the floor, but they made too much

money, too much money. Chevron, too much money. ExxonMobil, too much, too much money. When you look at one company where they made 12 times what they

made the year before.

They got to give some of that back to the public, and they better cut the retail price, the consumer price. Too much money. You're surprised I'm

saying it. I'll say it loud and clear. I'm not happy about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Saudi Aramco CEO, Amin Nasser, talking to Reuters, says that his company will continue to capitalize on oil at all export routes. Meantime,

oil prices today lower, helped by some optimism that a U.S.-Iran peace deal could be getting closer. Qatar says efforts to resolve the conflict are

quote, in very progressive stages end quote.

Well from the Strait of Hormuz to rare earth minerals, the weaponization of global chokepoints has been thrown into focus with the closure of the

Strait of Hormuz. My next guest says, and I'm quoting him here, The Strait of Hormuz is unquestionably the world's most important geographic

chokepoints.

Once countries weaponize chokepoints, other countries that feel vulnerable to that weaponization take steps to insulate themselves. So, I do think

that the Strait is going to continue to be very potent. Edward Fishman is the author of "Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare".

He's also the director these days of the Greenberg Center for Geo-economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. He joins me now from New York. Your

experience, of course, at the State Department has been on the Russia and Europe sanctions file. And before that, on the Iran sanctions file, around

the time that the negotiations for the original Iran deal were struck.

You say the war in Iran is what happens when you escalate beyond economic war, which the U.S. has used on Iran, of course, for years, to kinetic war.

You also say Trump's naval blockade instituted in April was a smart move. Just explain your position with regard the sort of maritime chokepoint that

is the Strait of Hormuz and its significance.

EDWARD FISHMAN, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR GEO-ECONOMICS AT THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Sure. So, the Strait of Hormuz is the most important

geographic chokepoint in the world. You know, before the war started, about 20 percent of all oil and 20 percent of liquefied natural gas passed

through that waterway on any given day.

I think that the analytical error that the Trump Administration made going into this crisis was that they thought that to close the Strait of Hormuz,

Iran would have to use sea mines, basically laying thousands of them or hundreds of them, to make it so that no ship could pass through the strait.

But what Iran has done instead is just by targeting ships that they don't want to cross through the strait now, ships that don't, you know, pay a

service fee and register with the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, try to pass through Omani waters. They've been able to reshape the risk calculus

of the shipping industry.

So, by virtue of kind of using that selective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has fashioned this into a chokepoint that it can basically

turn it on and off at its will.

[09:35:00]

ANDERSON: You also say that you are, you know, you think that the U.S. blockade has actually been a smart move. Again, briefly explain.

FISHMAN: Sure. So, look before the blockade. So, if you go to the first six or seven weeks of the war, Iran was benefiting from the closure of the

Strait of Hormuz because Saudi oil, Emirati oil, Iraqi oil was not getting through. Iran was threatening those ships with drones and missiles, but its

own oil was getting through.

And so, in this sort of perverse circumstance, oil prices had shot up above $100 a barrel, and Iran was the only country that was benefiting from that.

I think what the U.S. blockade did was it at least told the Iranians that they could not benefit from the crunch in oil prices that they created.

I don't think it's a silver bullet. I never endorse the idea that the blockade was going to make Iran capitulate, but it certainly gives the

Iranians at least some incentive to negotiate. Whereas before that blockade in March and the beginning of April, Iran was actually just benefiting from

the entire situation in the Strait of Hormuz.

ANDERSON: And is maritime choke hold absolutely front and center when it comes to any discussions that are going on and any talks that are going on

at present behind the scenes. We will wait to see how those develop. Meantime, you also say you will see substantial investment by countries in

the Gulf, like Saudi and the UAE, in building out pipelines that work around the strait, and we are seeing that build out in front of our eyes.

The UAE calls Tehran's actions economic terrorism and says it won't be bullied. These workarounds are real, and avoid the maritime chokepoints,

not just of the strait but also of the Bab al-Mandab in the Red Sea. Do you believe that Tehran has overplayed the weaponization of these maritime

chokepoints?

FISHMAN: I think they're certainly at risk of doing so. I think if this continues for several more months, and there's not some sort of resolution

that allows countries like Saudi and the UAE to get their oil out of the region that allows Qatar to get their natural gas out of the region.

Then I do think that Iran risks overplaying their hand because, as you mentioned in your introduction, this definitely does provide an incentive

to you know circumvent the strait to sort of break that chokepoint that Iran has. But if Iran seems to be even more arbitrary and capricious in its

management of the strait, it's only going to accelerate those efforts.

ANDERSON: So, briefly, I just want to widen the lens because we're not talking here just about maritime chokepoints having an impact on the global

economy. You described the U.S. dollar, microchips, energy, rare earths as the new weapons of geopolitical power. Just explain.

FISHMAN: Sure. So, look, the reason that the Strait of Hormuz is so potent is that it's a dominant chokehold in the global economy. It's one point of

failure that a single country, namely Iran, has learned to control. There are other single points of failure like that, the U.S. dollar is involved

in 90 percent of all foreign exchange transactions.

You basically cannot participate in the international financial system without having access to the dollar. You know, China produces something

like 90 percent of the refined rare earth minerals and magnets that are involved in everything from smartphones to missiles to electric cars.

These are also chokepoints that can be weaponized by countries like the United States and China that possess them. So, I think fundamentally, what

we have is that we embraced a globalized economy in the 1990s when we thought that there would not be any meaningful geopolitical competition.

But as we've seen in the last decade, with the Russian war against Ukraine, the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, with China's bullying of Taiwan and

Japan in its own region, we're seeing that the geopolitical foundations of globalization have totally crumbled. And so, I think the return of

geopolitical competition against this backdrop of continued economic integration has led to proliferating economic warfare and more and more

weaponization of chokepoints all around the world.

I think this will only continue until we have a fundamentally reshaped global economic system.

ANDERSON: That's going to be fascinating to see. It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. Fascinating. Tennis history made

in Washington on Monday. A 21-year-old Filipina, Alexandra Eala captured the D.C. Open title. Details on that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: This final major of the year is of course later this month in New York, and if Monday's D.C. Open finale was anything to go by, we are in for

a treat. 21-year-old Alexandra Eala became the first player from the Philippines to win a tennis title.

Andy Scholes is in the house. And that win, Andy, for like a win and some for the rising star.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Becky. I mean, just look how excited she was claiming that title, jumping up and down, smiling.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

SCHOLES: And you know, there's Filipino flags all or Philippines flags all across the stadium. She said that support from her home countries really

helped her fuel her to get to this spot. You know, she just made it to the fourth round at Wimbledon. It was her best showing ever at a Grand Slam

final.

What kind of run is she in for at the U.S. Open later this month? She's certainly going to be one a fun one to follow. Eala's been a rising star in

the sport for quite a while now. Will she have a Grand Slam title in her future to finish this season? We'll hear from her coming up here on "World

Sport".

But Becky, isn't it kind of astonishing that the Philippines had never had a male or female win a title till just now with Eala.

ANDERSON: I know. Yeah.

SCHOLES: Yeah.

ANDERSON: No, it's about time. Good for her, and good for the traveling Philippine support and the diaspora there, who will have been absolutely

delighted. More on that in "World Sport" coming up. I'll be back in 15 minutes' time with more "Connect the World".

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