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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Criticizes Netanyahu's Actions In Lebanon; Trump And Zelenskyy Meet On Sidelines Of G7 Summit; SpaceX More Valuable Than Amazon As Shares Surge; Serena And Venus Williams To Team Up At Wimbledon; REC League Team Arya F.C. React To Iran's Participation. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired June 16, 2026 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:31]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: No holds barred. Donald Trump criticizing Benjamin Netanyahu on the world stage.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: The second hour of "One World" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When you asked me about Bibi, an unbelievable relationship. But Israel would have been blown up a long
time ago had I not gotten involved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: A disagreement between friends. With the important relationship between the U.S. and Israel strained, where does Benjamin Netanyahu go from
here?
ASHER: Also ahead, it's been trading for three days and it's already worth more than Amazon. Why SpaceX is having a week for the history books since
only Tuesday.
Plus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAMIN GHASHGHAEL, ARYA F.C.: That is not an Iranian national team in my opinion. So, go Brazil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Identity, politics, and the love of the game. Why these stateside Iranians are not rooting for the home team.
ASHER: And later, better together, Venus and Serena Williams are hosting a family reunion courtside.
All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. You are watching the second hour of "One World."
Two days after Donald Trump announced the framework of a deal aimed at ending the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, the details remain a mystery.
But the president is vowing to release the document in, quote, a couple of days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I will actually, I'll not only release it, I'll probably have a press conference and read it to you word by word so that the press covers
it accurately. Because it's a -- it's a very important document.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: While attending the G7 Summit in France, Trump also claimed the next phase of negotiations, which is meant to deal with the toughest issues
separating Washington and Tehran, will be easier. And he suggested that Syria might do a better job at dealing with Hezbollah than Israel.
Today, Iran once again doubled down on its demand that Israel withdraw from Lebanon as part of the agreement.
GOLODRYGA: But Israel has made it clear that it has no plans to do that. At least four people were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon today,
according to state media.
Meanwhile, as the gap between the U.S. and Israel appears to get wider, Trump issued a rare rebuke of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Israel's fighting Hezbollah too long and too many people are being killed. And you don't have to knock down an apartment house every time
you're looking for somebody. Without me, there would be no Israel because no other president was willing to do what I did.
I've had a great relationship with Bibi, but now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us live now from Tel Aviv. So, Jeremy, we were speaking just a few minutes ago and you were making some very good
points really about what this shows about the path that Netanyahu is willing to take here.
And also the fact that we don't necessarily know what Iran's tolerance is going to be for Israel's continued presence and continued sort of strikes
in -- in Lebanon. Just walk us through that.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: In so many ways, the lines have been drawn by the various parties about the way forward for this U.S.-
Iran agreement and what each side is and is not willing to do.
But there's still uncertainty about how the different sides will interpret the actions of the other and ultimately separating the rhetoric from actual
action. And on that front, you have the Israeli statements. They will not withdraw their thousands of troops that are currently in Southern Lebanon
from Lebanese territory. That was said by the defense minister, by the Israeli prime minister himself.
And we are also seeing on the ground that Israeli attacks in Southern Lebanon are continuing with four people killed just today alone uh in
multiple Israeli strikes that took place in Southern Lebanon in one town square and also on a vehicle in a neighboring village.
Then you have what the Iranians are saying. The Iranians are vowing that this war, the broader regional war, will not end until the war in Lebanon
ends, until, first of all, Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon and until Israeli attacks in Lebanon stop as well.
What we don't know yet is whether or not what Iran says is it would be a violation of the memorandum of understanding would lead them to carry out
attacks against Israel or to, you know, abandon this newly crafted deal with the United States.
[12:05:18]
From the U.S. perspective, that one is also important as well, of course. And the U.S. is indicating that an Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon
is not necessary.
But what you do have is President Trump saying that the Israeli prime minister, and by extension, the Israeli government and its military must
act more responsibly in Lebanon.
The president even went so far as to suggest that perhaps Syria, the Syrian government, should be involved in taking care of Hezbollah in Lebanon
instead of Israel, who President Trump said is taking too long and even suggested that is causing more civilian casualties than are necessary in
Southern Lebanon.
But U.S. officials have suggested that there is latitude for Israel to carry out actions that they deem to be in their own self-defense in
Lebanon. But the way in which the United States is going to define that, from the way Iran is going to define that, are going to be two very
different things.
And so we see now, as we have seen at so many different points in this negotiation between the United States and Iran, that ultimately Lebanon is
a linchpin of this agreement. And it is the one over which the United States has the least control, increasingly so, it seems, as the
relationship between President Trump and the Israeli prime minister has grown increasingly strained.
GOLODRYGA: Jeremy, how is Prime Minister Netanyahu responding to what is the latest in a series of public rebukes and condemnation from President
Trump over the course of the last few days, specifically that he doesn't view him as being responsible in their fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon
and suggested perhaps that Syria, that al-Sharaa and his government could take over?
DIAMOND: Well, we haven't heard from the Israeli prime minister responding directly to what President Trump said today.
But last night, the Israeli prime minister gave remarks where he tried to frame basically the -- the war with Iran as a -- as a success from his
perspective.
In his opening remarks, he didn't mention any of the feud with President Trump. He didn't talk about this new deal between the United States and
Iran. But when he was asked about the strain in the relationship, he acknowledged it to some degree. But ultimately, he said that it's something
that they are working through. And he also said that at the end of the day, President Trump has to act in America's interest and Netanyahu has to act
in Israel's interest.
And ultimately, that is going to be one of the driving forces going forward in terms of how the prime minister act and -- and to what extent he listens
to the United States' guardrails in Lebanon in particular, because Prime Minister Netanyahu is getting pilloried by all spectrums of the -- of the
political dialogue in Israel right now for basically being weak in the face of this deal between the U.S. and Iran for losing influence over President
Trump.
And so Prime Minister Netanyahu, as he contemplates reelection in the coming months, his main focus is going to be trying to show strength and
trying to show that he is not entirely, at least, subservient to the United States, that he's going to look out for Israel's interests, even if it
invites a conflict again in the -- in the rhetorical sense with the United States.
ASHER: Jeremy Diamond, live for us there. Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Let's bring in Israeli journalist and commentator, Nadav Eyal, joining us from Tel Aviv. He's an adjunct professor of international and
public affairs at Columbia University and also a senior research scholar there.
Nadav, it's good to have you back on. Sort of picking up on the conversation that we had last week when you were on the program about the
growing divide here and public disputes from President Trump directed at Prime Minister Netanyahu, as it relates to what the United States is saying
Israel can have as far as latitude in Lebanon.
It is reported that the U.S. said Israel, as part of this deal, can defend itself and maintain a posture in Lebanon. But what seems to be rather vague
is whether Israel would have the right to take preemptive measures.
Israelis called this the October 6th problem that they vowed to allow to manifest again, watching groups like Hamas or Hezbollah gather more
rockets, more ammunition and not do anything to address it.
How will any, forget Netanyahu, how would any Israeli government respond to that directive?
NADAV EYAL, ISRAELI JOURNALIST AND COMMENTATOR: Well, Bianna, if the directive is for the Israeli government, any Israeli government, not to
respond to a growing threat on the other side of the border, I'm afraid that even the opposition's government that is talking about better
relations with the United States of America and specifically with this White House, they -- they will have to act and preemptively strike either
Hezbollah or Hamas or other targets across the Middle East.
[12:10:16]
Because the main driver of Israeli politics today is the aftermath of October 7th. The trauma of October 7th. The idea that both Hamas and
Hezbollah were planning an invasion. They said that on the record, they were actually having practicing of their troops to take over Kibbutzim and
towns in Israel and Israel didn't do enough. And that is really a motive that you will see again and again in Israeli politics. So this is a big
problem.
But the U.S. administration isn't saying that Israel has no right for self- defense. It's actually saying exactly the opposite, that it does have a right of self-defense against Hezbollah.
The question, as you said, Bianna, is what exactly that does -- that this mean in practical terms for the Israelis when they need to respond to what
Hezbollah is doing? And Hezbollah is still attacking, including within the sovereign state of Israel.
ASHER: Talk to us about the sort of political calculations for Netanyahu, the pressures that he's under domestically. And also, I mean, we were
speaking to our correspondent earlier in the show.
And this idea that this memorandum of understanding has obviously been a lack of transparency. There are reports that the U.S. government may have
sweetened the pot by not just unfreezing assets from oil for the Iranians, but also potentially allowing the Iranians to have access to this sort of
$300 billion investment fund. Trump is denying that.
But how much fear is there among Israelis that if Iran had access to billions of dollars of more money, that that would lead to them spending
that money on funding Hezbollah and also essentially advancing their nuclear program as well?
EYAL: Well, this is the million dollar question or the $300 billion question for the Israelis. It's more of a risk for Israel's security, say,
its leaders and mainly its defense administration officials. This release of -- of funds, unfreezing of funds, sale of oil with no sanctions, that's
more of a threat than the nuclear program or the ballistic missile program, just because Iran would be able, not only to rearm and rebuild its
military, but also to send money to its proxies, which it did in the last few years since the beginning of the war.
And even after Israel and the United States attacked in June of '25, it did send money and more than a billion dollars, probably to -- to Hezbollah.
And because of that, that's a serious question.
Now the Trump administration has been adamant and the president himself that the Iranians are not going to get anything unless they live up to
their commitments. And this is part of the problem.
Again, it was in your question. The Israeli government doesn't exactly know what's in the agreement or it didn't know until a few hours ago. Maybe
things have changed in the last few hours, but the sources I've spoken with, the Israeli sources have said that they didn't see the full agreement
between the United States and Iran.
So they are still hedging. They are waiting to see what exactly is in that agreement in terms of release or unfreezing of funds of the Islamic
Republic.
GOLODRYGA: Nadav, you are in Israel now. The last I checked, and this had been the -- the position that Israel and Israelis had been in for months,
if not years now. I don't know -- do we still have Nadav's signal? We may have lost Nadav.
OK. All right. We'll try to reconnect with Nadav, but this happens.
ASHER: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Well, the Ukrainian president says that leaders at the G7 Summit agreed to help Ukraine strengthen its air defenses, adding
that Donald Trump was also positive.
ASHER: Yes. Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared images of himself with the U.S. president and secretary of state on the sidelines of the summit. Donald
Trump later told reporters that Moscow should make a peace deal with Kyiv.
CNN's senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak joins us live now from Geneva, Switzerland.
I mean, obviously, if it was enough just to sort of simply say that Moscow should make a peace deal with Kyiv, then we wouldn't be in this position.
But just in terms of what Zelenskyy actually needs, I mean, his priority is air defenses right now. Just -- just walk us through whether he got any
kind of guarantees from the U.S. president on that front.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I mean, I think from the thousand-foot view, what he needs is President Trump's attention. You know,
the president has openly said that he's been focused on Iran. He barely talks about Ukraine anymore. And so just having Zelenskyy in front of him
and having the other members of the G7 sort of sitting in a concerted effort to talk to the president about it, I think, probably was a step
forward.
[12:15:10]
But whether that really means anything in terms of new commitments for air defenses or anything else remains to be seen. And we know there are plenty
of people inside the White House who just want to move on from Ukraine, who say that this should be Europe's problem and that this is something that
the president needs to wash his hands of because it has been so far unsuccessful for him. And so I think the president will take what he heard
in this meeting.
You know, I talked to people here who did say it was a relatively positive session when the G7 was around the table with Zelenskyy this morning. They
came away from it of the belief that President Trump thought it was time to increase pressure on Moscow to try and break some of the stalemate that
exist there, but that wouldn't have been the first time that they heard that from President Trump only to see virtually no follow through. And so
they're going to be watching this very closely.
You know, now that the Iran war, I guess, is over, obviously, there's plenty of questions about what this deal actually consists of. The
president does sound as if he wants to move to Ukraine. He wants to have a role in trying to bring this conflict to an end.
Again, you hear discussion about potentially sending Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner back to Moscow, back to meet with Vladimir Putin, despite
those meetings not really producing much previously. And so this does seem like it's going to take a turn at some point soon.
But where that goes, I don't think is explicitly clear. And what the president is actually willing to do to try and, you know, unlock some of
the peace efforts also doesn't seem clear.
The Europeans are trying to get some buy-in from the president for their own efforts to bring the war to an end, but I think it's almost certain
that the president will want to roll in this. You know, he has openly lobbied for a Nobel Peace Prize. He talks constantly about the wars he has
been able to settle.
And so if you did think that there was any real chance of bringing this to a conclusion, I think it's almost certain that he wants to play a part in
that.
ASHER: Kevin Liptak, live for us. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Coming up, SpaceX is gaining in the A.I. race, paying $60 billion for a coding startup and a bid to catch up with rivals, OpenAI
and Anthropic.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:20:04]
ASHER: SpaceX's market domination continues. Its soaring share price means it has passed Amazon to become the fifth most valuable company in the
world. Its stock price is now 60 percent higher than last week's IPO, putting its value at around $2.6 trillion.
GOLODRYGA: And SpaceX just added more fuel to its rocketing ambition, paying $60 billion for A.I. startup, Cursor, seen as a rival to Anthropic
and OpenAI's code-writing tools.
CNN business senior reporter David Goldman has been tracking developments from New York.
I was a little hesitant because we didn't know if we had your shot, David. So apologies for that. But technology is working.
ASHER: There you are.
DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: Talk to us about yet another -- a big day for SpaceX following that incredible IPO on Friday. And this announcement that it's investing
$60 billion to -- to rival other A.I. startups.
GOLDMAN: Yes. I mean, SpaceX is having a record week, and it is only Tuesday. It's an incredible -- an incredible start to this public company.
Now, obviously, it is much more mature than most public companies when they have an IPO.
Normally, you're a startup and you've, you know, had a few years under your belt. SpaceX is a very, very long running company and it has almost $19
billion of sales every year.
Now, it's growing very, very quickly. It grew about a third last year. But the thing is, and the big trick is, it has all of these A.I. ambitions,
right? It doesn't just want to be a company that launches rockets into space, launches satellites into space, wants to become a competitor to
Anthropic and OpenAI.
Well, how do you do that? Well, you got to spend a ton of money and that's what it did today by buying Cursor. It thinks that it can buy a legitimate
competitor to Anthropic and OpenAI's enterprise businesses. That's for, you know, that's where all the money is made in A.I. at the moment.
And now it makes xAI, which SpaceX bought at the beginning of the year, a much more viable competitor. The thing is, usually investors don't like it
when you spend a ton of money. Usually that weighs on the stock price. But we're not seeing that it was up 19 percent on Friday. It was up 19 percent
yesterday. It's up close to 10 percent. Oh, no, there it is. Close to 12 percent today.
And these valuations are making no sense. SpaceX is now bigger than Amazon. It is -- it has been trading places all day with Microsoft, right? A
company that's been in existence since 1979.
So, what is going on here? Well, Elon Musk, right? People believe in Elon Musk. And he doesn't always make good on his promises, but there are a lot
of people who have lost a lot of money betting against him.
And so with the fear of missing out, people are putting a lot of money into SpaceX today and we'll see how long this lasts.
GOLODRYGA: And he has been proven to be pretty fearless in pursuing a lot of his passions and pursuits, no matter the cost. And thus far, that has
paid off for him quite handsomely, making him on --
GOLDMAN: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: -- paper at least, the world's first trillionaire.
David Goldman, thank you.
GOLDMAN: Thank you.
ASHER: All right. Shelly Palmer is CEO of tech media and marketing consultant firm, The Palmer Group. He's also a professor of Advanced Media
in Residence at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Shelly, always good to see you.
I thought I didn't see you enough. I used to see you all the time. And then now what's going on? I need to have you back more.
But just in terms of what David was saying here, one of the reasons why we're seeing this IPO break so many records, not just in terms of Elon Musk
becoming the world's first trillionaire, but also just right out of the gate, a few days after debuting at the NASDAQ, you're seeing this company
now become the fifth largest company in the world. David saying that it's sort of all-day been trading places with Microsoft, a company that's been
around since the '70s.
And the difference here is the belief that so many people have in Elon Musk. Just -- just walk us through that part of it. What is it about Elon
Musk and his vision that so many people seem to buy into?
SHELLY PALMER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, THE PALMER GROUP: I think realistically, we're pricing the future now. The price of SpaceX is the
retail investors in the world looking at the future and saying, what -- what is the price of the future?
Think about what SpaceX is capable of. They have launch vehicles. They've got a constellation of satellites. They've got an A.I. component. They are
all part of this hopeful vision of what the future could look like.
[12:25:15]
And I think that's where the price is coming from. Elon Musk has been a good storyteller. He's also delivered and people know about his work ethic.
And they understand that though he does exaggerate a bit and, you know, he believes in himself in ways that most people don't believe in themselves,
at the end of the day, he has delivered.
And so when you take the delivery, because he certainly has, with SpaceX and with Tesla and with The Boring Company and with everything else he's
done with Neuralink, I think it's pretty obvious, this is just people investing in the future.
Now, look, if you are an analyst of any kind and you look at this over 100x multiple at its most exuberant -- NVIDIA investors were going at around
thinking at 25 times, not a hundred.
So, this is -- this is quite unusual. It certainly doesn't make financial sense. SpaceX hasn't made any money. They've got a lot of sales, but they
don't have any profit. So this is literally an investment in the future. And it's understandable because it's a very hopeful and exciting vision of
the future.
GOLODRYGA: You know, I'm reading Sebastian Mallaby's biography of Demis Hassabis. And just thinking back, I mean, it struck me in reading this book
that it was at 2011, 2012 when they were trying to get investors for DeepMind, they got Elon Musk on the phone. And the first question he asked
Demis was, how much money do you want? And Demis said, I don't know, five million?
And Elon said, sure, no problem. And you think from five million to, you know, 15 years later, where we are now in the valuation of A.I. and A.I.
companies. Yes, there's a lot of momentum, there's a lot of hope in the future here.
But what do you say to those who are worried about how this is impacting average investors, pension funds that have invested in SpaceX as well? Is
this a smart move on their part or given, you know, the possibility of this being an overvalued company? Is that too big of a risk for average
investors?
PALMER: I have to say that, first of all, I'm not giving financial advice to anyone. You should consult your licensed professional advisor.
But if you think about where we are, what this IPO did is it's paved the way for OpenAI and for Anthropic and other A.I. companies to start to take
advantage of public markets.
It also says a couple other things that are really interesting too. They have, for all intents and purposes, run out of private capital.
And what this IPO says and what this multiple says is a little bit about Elon Musk and a little bit about the future, but a lot about where they're
going to get the money they need to move forward.
And I think every A.I. company is going to be pretty much in the same boat. And the question is, can they tell as good of a story? Anthropic certainly
has an incredible story, but the government threw a little bit of a monkey wrench in this on Friday in two ways. One, you had uh Fable and Mythos
polled because they couldn't comply with a government mandate to restrict those models to domestic usage only.
And also, you had 42 different attorneys general go out after OpenAI for consumer product safety issues. And so the A.I. industry is being kind of
attacked from two sides governmentally.
So, if you're an investor, I think you have to take all of this into consideration. Yes, SpaceX is a really interesting way to plow the road for
big IPOs in and around this new tech stack that everybody is so high on and, you know, maybe for good reason.
But we also have to understand that the government's now involved and they are thinking hard about limiting how people get access to the various
models. Making the best model doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be allowed to release it. That wasn't true till Friday.
So, there's a lot of things to think about. It's not just, is this a good IPO, a bad IPO, properly valued or undervalued. There is a holistic problem
going on now that we didn't have before who gets to decide, who gets what model. It's now on the hands of the government. That wasn't true a week
ago. So, we'll see.
Very interesting space, a really exciting time. I don't think the lesson learned is, Elon's a trillionaire and the company's worth more than
Microsoft. I think the lesson learned is we've got a great story. We've got an amazing future ahead of us. And now, we have to figure out how that
future's going to be governed and how we're going to grow and prosper inside that governance.
ASHER: One quick question about Elon Musk. You know, most of the founders who have had a successful exit, a lot of them find it very difficult,
Shelly, to replicate that success a second time. You sell your company for hundreds of millions of dollars, you try again, you start another company.
[12:30:08]
It usually, not everybody, but usually doesn't go quite as well. And that - - that's because it's very difficult to replicate luck, timing, market conditions, the team you had, all of that stuff, very difficult to
replicate.
When you look at someone like Elon Musk, he's had so much success multiple times with several different companies. And I mean, you can't -- I don't
know if you can count X because he didn't found Twitter, obviously.
But if you look at so many other companies that he has founded or co- founded or joined early, he's had success after success. And by the way, a lot of them have been with companies that have very high barriers to entry.
I just think it's remarkable to be able to repeat that level of success, not just once or twice, but many times. Can you explain that, Shelly?
PALMER: Well, I think it's very easily explainable. First of all, luck is a gigantic component, but you make your own luck in the following way. And
Elon certainly has.
If you look at the circles where he traveled, and if you look at the success of all of the people that were around him, it's not unique to Elon.
Yes, he certainly did better than all of them because, you know, he just exceeded all expectations.
But all of the Silicon Valley, Sand Hill Road crowd that Elon started with years and years ago, are all some of the most successful entrepreneurs and
successful business people in the world.
So, you know, surrounding yourself with the right people, being in the right room, you got to give Elon credit for that.
And he has been lucky. I think he would have -- you know, I've heard him say it more than once. He would agree with that. Hard work and luck are --
are pretty good in combination. And being in the right room, put all three of those together and what you get is a great opportunity. And he has
certainly taken advantage of the opportunities given to him.
ASHER: Really? So you can be lucky, seven, eight, nine times.
GOLODRYGA: If you're willing to put up millions of dollars.
ASHER: I didn't know that luck worked like that. I didn't know that luck worked like that, Shelly.
PALMER: You can toss a coin -- you can toss a coin and have it land heads 10 times in a row. Doesn't happen often, but it does happen.
ASHER: All right.
PALMER: And, you know, so you can't call it anything but that -- you know, luck is a component people always discount. He's talented, but never
discount luck.
ASHER: Yes.
PALMER: Anyone who's too arrogant to do that.
ASHER: I think that he does have a few unique -- there's certain unique character traits.
GOLODRYGA: Don't discount the risk either. He's a big risk-taker.
ASHER: Yes, yes, exactly.
Shelly Palmer, we have to leave it there.
PALMER: Absolutely.
ASHER: I thought there should be a bigger discussion another time. Elon Musk, whole segment on him.
Shelly, we have to leave it there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Coming up, reunited and ready to extend their record. Details ahead on the exciting news over tennis legend, Serena and Venus
Williams.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:35:00]
ASHER: Watch out, Wimbledon. The Williams sisters are reigniting their legendary partnership. Serena and Venus will play doubles together at the
Grand Slam, which gets underway in less than two weeks. The All England Club made the announcement a short time ago.
GOLODRYGA: So far in their career, the Williams sisters have won 14 Grand Slam titles together in doubles, including six at Wimbledon.
So let's discuss with CNN World Sports' Don Riddell. So, Don, given this announcement, can they make it seven wins and titles at Wimbledon?
It's going to be a big winner for Wimbledon itself, given, I'm sure, the ratings spike, the number of people tuning in to watch this duo. The
question is, do they still have it?
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Can they make it seven? That's a bit of a stretch, guys. But, I mean, hey, write the Williams sisters off at your
peril, I think we all learned that lesson a long time ago.
But no doubt, a huge amount of excitement, intrigue, interest, hype. The doubles tournament are almost always overshadowed by the singles
tournaments at any tennis event. But I think certainly for as long as Serena and Venus are playing in the doubles, all eyes will be on those
matches.
And it's just an incredible story. Remember, Serena returned to tennis just last week at Queen's. I hesitate to call it a comeback because she never
actually retired. But she returned to the court with the young Canadian Victoria Mboko by her side.
They won their first match against the third seeds in that competition and they were looking great, but that was all they played because Mboko had to
withdraw from the tournament after that.
Serena is currently playing again with a different partner in Berlin. She's playing alongside Karolina Muchova. They have literally just lost the first
set in that match.
But this is what people are going to be really excited about, Serena and Venus playing together. These guys just rewrote the record books when they
were in their heyday. They might be making another record by combining to play at the age added up 44 and 46 of 90. I'm not sure that's ever been
done at Wimbledon before. And it's just going to be so much fun.
Remember, Serena has said that she doesn't have anything to prove. She doesn't need to do any more winning. She's done plenty of that in her
career. She's just coming back to have fun, to show her kids that she does this for a living and is really, really good at it. And, yes, it's just
going to be a great talker.
But she might also play in the singles, by the way. There's one more wildcard spot up for grabs. We don't know if Williams will get it, but she
might. So watch this space.
GOLODRYGA: Listen, they are not as young as they were, obviously, when they first made world headlines, but some things never change. I think the
competitive edge in them is still extremely sharp. So, we'll be watching and rooting for them, especially those of us in our 40s.
Don Riddell, thank you.
ASHER: You don't have to out us, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: No. Proud.
ASHER: We're 28, OK? I just turned 28 a couple of weeks ago.
GOLODRYGA: I turned 48 yesterday.
ASHER: Yes?
GOLODRYGA: Yesterday's my birthday.
ASHER: Oh, my God.
GOLODRYGA: OK. We'll move on.
All right. Now to the World Cup, where Iran's participation has left fans conflicted.
ASHER: Happy birthday.
GOLODRYGA: Thank you.
ASHER: Hundreds of Iranians gathered outside SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles before Monday's game against New Zealand to protest against the regime in
Tehran. Some even accused their football stars of representing the Islamic Republic. Still, that wasn't how these fans in New York saw it.
(CHEERING)
GOLODRYGA: Some Iran supporters told us that they're happy to cheer on their team, even as they hope for change back home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANAM AKHLAGH, ORIGINALLY FROM IRAN: It's a very hard, complicated time for, I think, Iranian diaspora right now. But it's still, it's our -- it's
our team. And I think, again, we all have a lot of mixed feelings.
[12:40:06]
I have plenty of hope in the people of Iran. And I think they are resilient. They are unbelievably courageous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what the World Cup is all about, right? Bringing people together and sharing the -- the moments with your fellow countrymen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: CNN's Julia Vargas Jones spoke with players from Arya F.C., an Iranian football club in Los Angeles, to find out how they felt ahead of
Iran's first World Cup match yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you feel represented by this team?
NADER ADELI, CAPTAIN, ARYA F.C: No. No. It's a definite no.
JONES: We're in suburban Los Angeles where a REC League team, Arya F.C., is about to start their practice. This is a team of all Iranian and Iranian-
American men.
And as the Iranian national team plays their first World Cup game here in Los Angeles, they are caught between their cultural identity, their
politics, and sports.
This is an unprecedented situation where you have the host of a World Cup be at war with one of its participants. And in your community, Iranians,
who live here in the United States are caught in the middle of that.
ADELI: It is very hard situation. I don't know how Iranian government is coping with that, and at the same time, the United States is coping with
that because it is hard. You will say, why would -- should this team be here? We are at war with them, right?
GHASHGHAEL: In my heart, I still cannot get the image of all these teenagers, all these people killed in my country and everybody else seems
to just pretend it doesn't exist.
JONES (voice-over): U.S. from fear that Tehran would, quote, abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses, a
U.S. administration official told CNN.
A number of team Iran staffers had their visas denied. And according to a spokesperson for the Iranian Football Federation, players would only enter
the U.S. one day before the first match and two days before each of the next two matches to minimize their time in the country.
But not every player here is so eager to embrace the mindset of football con.
GHASHGHAEL: As a soccer team, we're a disaster.
JONES: You're not confident in this team?
GHASHGHAEL: Oh, I'm not even supporting it. I love soccer. Soccer is inherently in the Persian culture. It is something that we -- we love. We
talk about it in the family gatherings with elders, youngsters. We connect. That's beautiful. It's beautiful.
But for me to actually go in front of a telly or buy a ticket to go support Iranian national team, that is not an Iranian national team, in my opinion.
So, go Brazil
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: He's got opinions. I love that. Go Brazil.
All right. Well, that does it for "One World." I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. And I just do have to say before we go, happy birthday.
Nobody -- I didn't know it was her birthday yesterday. Nobody in the control room, none of our producers knew because she kept it a secret,
apparently.
GOLODRYGA: Waiting to tell the whole world.
ASHER: You are the loveliest and kindest co-anchor I could have ever hoped for. So happy birthday. And she outed her age earlier. You look at least 15
years younger, how do you do it?
GOLODRYGA: Oh, my God. I love you so much. Back at you.
ASHER: All right. Thank you for watching. African Voices is up next.
GOLODRYGA: You make me --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:45:00]
(AFRICAN VOICES)
[13:00:00]
END
