Liverpool Dominate Tottenham In Final 2-0; U.S. President Weighs In On Brexit Ahead Of Trip
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like I'm still dreaming.</s>BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You'll never celebrate alone. Absolutely mental, Liverpool fans going wild, and they have every reason to do it, as European champions. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson live from Abu Dhabi. We've got lots of news for you at this hour kicking off what will be a very, very busy week with the U.S. president in the U.K. All the details on that in a few minutes' time. But we begin with simply fantastic news, at least if you are a Liverpool fan, devastating for the unlucky Spurs fans out there, such as myself. Well, celebrations as Liverpool comes to dominate European football, notching up at 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday's champions league -- Champions League final. We've been covering this through the season. It seems like the whole world was watching. Check out the bitter disappointment for these Tottenham fans in Seoul. Well, I feel your pain, lads, but this lodge won't. Pure joy and adulation, Reds fans watching it all go down in the hometown of Liverpool super striker and friend of this show, Mr. Mo Salah. Well, the team about to take a victory lap around Liverpool and that is where CNN's Alex Thomas is right now. He's feeling the energy in the thick of the madness. Has the city slept yet, the red side of it, that is?</s>ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: -- the young lad --</s>ANDERSON: All right, well it sounds as if we may have lost that shot. I'm going to get you back to Alex Thomas just as soon as we can. As I say, the team will be doing a victory lap, starting around now in Liverpool. What a season for them. Let's get you to Charlie Gibson, who is a video producer at the bleacher report. He showed a video last night at Saturday's big game. He joins me now via Skype from Madrid. And just before we speak, Charlie, I want to show our viewers this video. Well that video going viral, already watched by nearly six million people, and counting. Charlie, what were you thinking as you shot that Pitt's side?</s>CHARLIE GIBSON, VIDEO PRODUCER: Becky, why so many people related to this video is as you see a child and his father embracing. I mean, people all around the world put so much time and effort into taking their kids to sport, and you see that this is the pinnacle of Jordan Henderson's career and he's come running across. And I just felt lucky to be there. The pure emotion was just incredible to capture to catch.</s>ANDERSON: Jordan Henderson, of course, the captain of the Liverpool team. Just describe the atmosphere Pitt's side, when that final whistle blew last night, Charlie.</s>GIBSON: I'm lucky enough to have covered Liverpool a few times this season. They're a fantastic club and you could see what it meant to those players. Of course, last year they had the heartbreak in Kiev against Madrid, and you could see just what it meant to someone like Jordan Henderson. You know, he's been told by so many critics that he's not good enough for this team. He's not your MO Salah type of player. And could you see the pure emotion and passion that got this one across the line and it was just -- it was a joy to watch.</s>ANDERSON: Not the greatest game of football, but a fitting end to an unbelievable season for the club that many call football royalty.</s>GIBSON: Yes. I mean, obviously, I must pass my condolences to you, first of all, Becky, in the sense of being a Tottenham fan. I know it wasn't too great to watch. But Liverpool has had such an incredible season and I mean, they came so close in the premier league and I think Jurgen Klopp spoke about how many finals he's lost, and this now, the European Champions, you need to say no more. They've had a fantastic season.</s>ANDERSON: They have. And you're right to name check Jurgen Klopp, finally shedding his nearly man reputation. It is rare these days that a manager makes the headlines as often as these extremely well-paid footballers -- you know, these footballing stars, but he's really something special, isn't he?</s>GIBSON: He is. I mean, he really has this rock star feel about him. He spoke about how he almost wanted to play rock music when he came to Liverpool. And he just ooze his confidence. And he can see that players, they look up to him. And I think that's really Liverpool, you know, that they're a working-class club. And you see the fans connect to him every time at the end</s>ANDERSON: That's right. And I've watched him in training. We did some programming with Mo Salah last year. And I watched Jurgen Klopp in training and his attitude with those players is unbelievable, and the sense of this being a sort of family, the togetherness that you see in training - - not because we were there. I genuinely don't believe because we were there filming. I mean, you can just see they're really, really tight group. Let's talk about Mo Salah because we opened the show with some video from his hometown. We also, of course, showed some video -- that's in Egypt, we showed some video of Spurs fans in Seoul, big supporters of the Spurs player Son. You know, lest we forget, this was an all-England final, played in Madrid, which is no stranger, of course, as a city to success. But I think last night seeing these fans in Egypt, seeing the fans in Seoul really sort of reinforces how big the game is and how important Champions League is to millions of people around the world, Charlie.</s>GIBSON: Yes, it's -- as I said, I've been lucky enough to cover the Champions League for the last six months. And just the global size of it and seeing in front of the Tottenham fans as you saw those flags, you saw the connection. And these players are they almost -- they represent the club in the sense of like Mo Salah is Liverpool, Son is Tottenham, Harry Kane, it's quite incredible where they've taken their clubs to. And now it's a case of this is the prime time, this is the global competition, and I just think it's going to grow and grow really, Becky.</s>ANDERSON: Yes, fantastic. Charlie, always a pleasure. I'm not sure how Madrid cope with the celebrations. I'm sure they did. It sounds as if it was all very -- it was all very jovial. I'm sure they'll be pleased when the fans leave, though. Thank you for that. Charlie is in the house, from the bleacher report, of course. Now, you know it wasn't just last night. Being a Spurs fan can be a bit of -- well, a bit of an exercise in self-flagellation, really. Take my adorable little nephew, Theodore, a really white fan, since he was a nipper, very proud he was then of his new kit that his auntie bought him. But the more things change well, the more they don't. Now a strapping young man, almost 30 years, as ardent a fan now as he was in short trousers, despite the fact the team hasn't actually won anything in Theo's lifetime. Yes, we Spurs fans are long-suffering but a merry band about it. What can we say, we love it. And Theo head eye onwards. The U.K. is also abuzz over a big state visit this week. U.S. President Donald Trump will be in town with his family. Mr. Trump set to touch down in London on Monday morning but he's already rustling feathers after a wide-ranging interview with the British newspaper The Sunday Times. The President talked about the price for leaving the E.U. and how the U.K. should negotiate with Brussels.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, if I were them, I wouldn't pay $50 billion. That's a big number. I wouldn't pay $50 billion if that's me. I'm only saying this from my standpoint. I would not pay. That's a tremendous number.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of these candidates are saying they'd walk away if they don't get what they want, others are disagreeing. I mean, presumably, do you think they get a deal --</s>TRUMP: If they don't get what they want, I'd walk away. I would walk away. This is their decision. You're just asking my opinion. I would not -- if you don't get the deal you want, if you don't get a fair deal, then you walk away.</s>ANDERSON: Meanwhile, London mayor and longtime Trump critic Sadiq Khan slams Mr. Trump in a scathing op-ed titled "It's un-British to roll out the red carpet for Donald Trump." Khan described the president as a growing global threat and says his behavior flies in the face of the ideals that America was founded on. The London mayor isn't the only one opposing Mr. Trump's visit. CNN's Phil black with this report.</s>PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is no secret that the American president and the mayor of London don't think much of each other. They've been Twitter feuding for years. On this occasion, Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London has written a lengthy argument in Britain's Observer newspaper explaining why he believes Donald Trump does not deserve the honor of a state visit to the United Kingdom. He has a long list of policies, comments, and behavior which he says ultimately are not compatible with British values, including using xenophobia and racism as electoral tactics. He says Trump is the leader of the global far-right movement, one that is a growing threat and one that is built on the tropes he says, that fascists used in the 20th century. Now, Sadiq Khan is not alone in opposing this visit. There will be protests during Trump's visit here, and other senior politicians, notably the leaders of main opposition parties, including the Labour Party's Jeremy Corbin, essentially the alternative prime minister here. They've said they are going to stay away deliberately from the state banquet at Buckingham Palace where Trump will be the guest of honor. There is a convention with state visits where the guest doesn't get involved in the domestic political affairs of the host. But Donald Trump has already defied that convention through interviews given to British newspapers ahead of the visit where he has essentially given his take on all the big political issues in Britain right now, including criticizing Theresa May for her poor handling of Brexit negotiations, essentially saying she was too soft. And he's also backed one specific contender to replace her now that she has admitted she must leave office in the coming weeks. Trump says that Boris Johnson would make an excellent prime minister. These comments aren't a surprise. He's made them before but this is a different time in Britain, a time of greater uncertainty, a time of greater political turmoil, where anything other than polite respectful language by the American president during his visit could trigger political shock waves that will continue to be felt here long after he leaves. I'm Phil Black reporting from London.</s>ANDERSON: Let's get the view from both sides of the Atlantic, shall we? CNN Political Analyst, Julian Zelizer, regular guest out of this show live out of New York for you this Sunday, and joining us from London Chief Political Commentator for The Independent John Rentoul. Donald Trump's offering advice, John, on U.K. politics may not be conventional but we've heard it from him before. Probably he doesn't surprise us. Should we be at all concerned?</s>JOHN RENTOUL, CHIEF POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, THE INDEPENDENT: No, we should -- we should be rightly outraged, and indignant that he's sticking his nose into our affairs. But actually, I mean, it's not going to the way we carry out our politics. I mean, the conservative leadership election is a rather peculiar Democratic event in any case. And I don't think Donald Trump's intervention is going to change anybody's mind.</s>ANDERSON: Julian, according to The Daily Telegraph, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton says the Trump administration wants Britain to honor the results of the Brexit referendum and leave the E.U. Bolton also getting involved saying the U.S. preference is for Britain to follow the course of what the people ask for leave and the E.U. It's a lesson for everyone in the triumph of democracy. Does John Bolton and the U.S. president, do they genuinely believe that they should be getting involved, and that the British people care about what they say?</s>JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think President Trump likes to get involved in many things, and the reaction isn't always his primary concern. From the start, I think Trump has seen himself as connected to Brexit, as part of some global populist movement rejecting the status quo, rejecting political elites, so it's not a surprise that right now, on this visit, he will double down especially as politics over there are more uncertain.</s>ANDERSON: John, describe, if you will, the atmosphere ahead of this trip in the</s>U.K. RENTOUL: Right, it's very partisan and very divided. I mean, most people in Britain are not -- are not Donald Trump supporters, not even conservatives, which is why his intervention on behalf of Boris Johnson was not particularly helpful to Boris Johnson, I mean, because he needs the votes of conservative MPs in the first instance. And you know, they're not -- they're not really Trumpy people, most of them. I would have thought most of them would probably be sort of moderate Democrats if they were forced to take a position on American politics. But so, yes -- but it gives a chance for Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London and it gives Jeremy Corbin, leader of the Labour Party the chance to get on their high horse about a right-wing foreigner intervening in British politics.</s>ANDERSON: Yes, I mean, Sadiq Khan going so far as to say it's un-British to roll out the red carpet for Donald Trump. That came a little bit far. What does he mean by that?</s>RENTOUL: Well, indeed, and lecturing Americans on what values their country was built on, which is -- which is tit-for-tat. I mean, if Donald Trump is going to tell us how to run our affairs, then Sadiq Khan is perfectly entitled to tell Americans how to run theirs. I mean, the problem with Donald Trump is he's very interested in British politics because as the professor just said there, you know, he regards Brexit as part of an international movement of which is he part of the national populist movement but he's not very well informed. I mean, he has no idea whether the $50 billion exit fee is too much or too little or what he would have negotiated if he'd been in Theresa May's place.</s>ANDERSON: And Julian, the British Home Secretary, interior minister, for what it's worth, in other countries Sajid Javid told the BBC he welcomes Mr. Trump's visit. He side-stepped any question over the President's controversial travel ban. Have a listen to this.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump has said in his very interesting interview this morning that lots of Conservatives have been asking for his support. Were you one of them?</s>SAJID JAVID, HOME SECRETARY, UNITED KINGDOM: No.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You haven't find out the --</s>JAVID: I don't think I'm one of them.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's very interesting because obviously if you become prime minister, you know, as the Disraeli was the first Jewish prime minister, so you will be the first prime minister from a Pakistani background, Muslim background. Have -- you're going to be seeing the president very shortly, I'm sure. Are you going to raise to him the Muslim travel ban?</s>JAVID: What I would raise with the president and his team -- first of all, I'd welcome him to the U.K. I think it's great that the president of the United States is coming here and I thank him for all the cooperation especially on security that i see day in, day out, which saves lives in Britain.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the words Muslim travel ban don't appear in that -- in that opening thought.</s>JAVID: I'll be thanking him for all that United States does to help Britain.</s>ANDERSON: Julian, exercise perhaps in the art of diplomacy from a man who is we have to say a contender for conservative leader, which in this current era means that he would also be prime minister going forward. Look, what does Donald Trump want to get out of this trip, do you believe?</s>ZELIZER: I think this is more about his own political standing in the United States. He wants to turn attention from a lot of the controversies that have really been accelerating in recent weeks. He wants to put himself on the international stage to look presidential going in to a presidential election season. And again, he wants to make himself part of a movement. Rather than this just being Donald Trump, he wants to elevate himself and Brexit offers a way for him to do that. But he will be greeted with lots of protests, a lot of non-diplomatic moments. And the question is, does he elicit more of that than any positive benefits he can gain politically from this visit.</s>ANDERSON: Well, we've got three days of it starting Monday. Julian Zelizer In New York, John Rentoul in London, we'll have you back. Thanks for joining us.</s>ZELIZER: Thank you.</s>ANDERSON: Well, still to come, another mass shooting in the United States. Authorities gave an update a short time ago. I'm going to get to that next. Plus, Israel and Syria trade fire. We're going to get you the very latest as each side blames the other, the escalating conflict. And Jeopardy drama playing out behind the cameras as each game show host battles for his life. I'm going to get you the very latest on his condition later this hour. You are watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. This is from our Middle East broadcasting hub in Abu Dhabi. You are more than welcome to stay with us.