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CNN International: At Least Eight Killed In Worst Strikes On Kyiv Since Last Summer; Trump Blasts New Russian Attacks, Calls On Putin To Stop Them; U.S. Ramps up Pressure On Ukraine To Accept Peace Plan. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired April 24, 2025 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
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ZAIN ASHER, HOST, "ONE WORLD": Trump tells Putin, Vladimir, STOP!
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, HOST, "ONE WORLD": One World starts right now.
President Trump issuing a rare criticism of Vladimir Putin after deadly Russian attacks on Ukraine's capital.
ASHER: Plus, a new U-turn on tariffs, as President Trump threatens to re- impose reciprocal tariffs in the coming weeks.
GOLODRYGA: And Pope Francis understood the importance of Africa to the future of Catholicism. We take a closer look at his legacy on the
continent.
Hello, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. You are watching One World.
Vladimir, STOP!, that is the urgent message from U.S. President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Moscow launches its deadliest
wave of strikes on Kyiv since last summer. Russia sent some 70 missiles and 145 drones raining down on Ukraine, mainly targeting its capital. Ukrainian
officials say at least eight people were killed in the bombardment, dozens more were actually injured here.
GOLODRYGA: President Trump is urging Russia to stop the assault. In a post on his social media website, he called out the Russian President by name,
calling the strikes "not necessary", and pushing his ceasefire proposal. "5,000 soldiers a week are dying", he wrote. "Let's get the Peace Deal
DONE!"
Kevin Liptak is at the White House, but let's begin with Nick Paton Walsh in London.
And Nick, for his part, President Zelenskyy is describing these latest attacks from Russia as a pressure point attempt from Vladimir Putin on the
United States. What more are we learning?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, this is a particularly barbaric wave of principally missile strikes
across Ukraine. It seems the 70 missiles accompanied by 140 plus drones were potentially aimed at trying to overwhelm Ukraine's air defenses,
particularly those around the capital city Kyiv. Eight killed across the country, dozens injured, and there are, I think, concerns, potentially this
may mark a moment where Ukraine begins to struggle with the volume of Patriot missile interceptors it needs to take down the ballistic missiles
that have formed so many parts of these attacks.
President Trump's response to this attack seems as angry at the timing of it, as indeed at the act, pleading to Vladimir to stop, as you said there,
because, of course, this comes at a particular moment of acute diplomatic sensitivity. President Zelenskyy pointing out today in South Africa, a
visit to the rotating President of the G20 that he had to cut short to get back to Kyiv to deal with these particular strikes. He said, to point out
that indeed after the Wednesday meeting in London, downgraded from something that was supposed to be Secretaries of State to simply an
official level. The Ukrainians, the Europeans and the Americans appear to have worked on a document amended, it seems, a U.S. proposal for a peace
deal and now sent that back to President Donald Trump's desk, Zelenskyy said.
So, that will be considered clearly by the White House and potentially form part of the meeting tomorrow in Moscow with Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and
Russian officials. So, much moving fast in terms of the diplomacy here, but this has really all been accelerated because of the artificial deadline
imposed by Trump himself and his officials, saying days ago that they would walk from this entire process in days if they didn't start seeing results.
A European official I spoke to saying essentially, they believe they're focused on getting a deal within the first 100 days of the Trump
presidency.
Nobody else really seems to share their sense of urgency here, or the need for some kind of bad deal to be done fast, not least of that Moscow, and
it's not clear from the embers of this deal, the glimpse of this deal that we're beginning to see quite what Russia is expected to stop doing, apart
from advancing on the frontlines in terms of its concessions.
ASHER: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you.
Let's bring in Kevin Liptak at the White House. So, Kevin, Trump is now seeing from himself that Vladimir Putin really cannot be trusted. In the
middle of really sensitive peace negotiations, Vladimir Putin is responding by launching a barrage of missiles on Kyiv. What can Trump do at this point
beyond sending out a post on social media telling him to stop?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, it's not clear what he can do, and it's also not clear what he is willing to do. He is clearly
frustrated that his attempts to bring this war to an end are not bearing any fruit. You'll remember, he came into office saying that he would be
able to end it within 24 hours. Now he is essentially reduced to pleading with Vladimir Putin on social media to stop.
[11:05:00]
This is not exactly where he would want to be approaching the 100-day mark in office.
Until this point, he had really been flashing his anger, mostly at Volodymyr Zelenskyy. You saw that play out yesterday, accusing Zelenskyy of
prolonging this conflict because he would not sign on to this American peace agreement, which would essentially force Ukraine to cede the
territory that it has lost to Russia with only some vague security guarantees and a promise to never join NATO.
And really the difference in tone between his post about Putin and his post about Zelenskyy, I think, is notable. He only wrote about 30 words,
accusing Putin of bombing Kyiv. He used 260 words to go after Zelenskyy yesterday for not signing on to this deal. Clearly, he believes the onus is
on Zelenskyy to bring this war to an end. He sort of talked about that yesterday in the Oval Office as well. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICASHER: I think Russia is ready, and a lot of people said Russia wanted to go for the whole thing.
And they -- I think we have a deal with Russia. We have to get a deal with Zelenskyy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIPTAK: So, the question now, of course, is, how all of this proceeds? Does the U.S. sort of abandon these peace efforts, as the Secretary of State has
said, as possible, as the Vice President has said, could be in the offing if these two sides don't come to the table? Does the President now apply
new sanctions on Russia? That's never been ruled out. The President has seemed reluctant to do it up until this point. But, does this potentially
prompt him to go further, whether it's sectoral sanctions or secondary sanctions? Does he try and apply more pressure on Moscow to bring this to
an end?
I should say that there will be an important meeting here at the White House to discuss all of this. The Norwegian Prime Minister will be here in
the Oval Office for talks. He is bringing with him his finance minister, Jens Stoltenberg. That name sounds familiar. It's because he is the former
Secretary General of NATO. At the time, he was considered something of a Trump whisperer when it came to these issues of European security, of the
importance of the NATO alliance. So, I don't think it's all that much of a coincidence that he is being brought into this meeting today at this very
precarious moment. Certainly, those will be important talks that the President will have, as this is all unfolding over in Ukraine.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and response to these talks and ongoing back and forth between what appears to be more concessions that the U.S. is willing to
offer Russia in place of some sort of ceasefire. President Zelenskyy once again saying that he doesn't think the United States is putting enough
pressure, as you noted, even more sanctions on Russia to get them to stop as well. We'll be following this closely.
Kevin Liptak, thank you so much.
Well, the new developments come as NATO's Secretary General is in Washington as well to discuss the war and other issues.
ASHER: Mark Rutte met U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon earlier. He is also scheduled to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio and
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
GOLODRYGA: The visit comes after America's top diplomats skipped a meeting in London on Wednesday to discuss the war.
ASHER: All right. Whiplash, flip-flop, about-face, or White House waffling, whatever you want to call it, it is creating global economic uncertainty,
and is that wreaking havocs broadly on the markets?
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. Donald Trump is set to meet Norway's Prime Minister in the next hour and host him. The issue of trade, obviously, will be high on the
agenda, and it comes as the U.S. President now threatens to re-impose, that's right, re-impose what he is calling reciprocal tariffs on most
countries within weeks, after initially pausing them for 90 days earlier this month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think what's going to happen is we're going to have great deals. And by the way, if we don't have a deal with a company or a country, we're
going to set the tariff. We just set the tariff. It's something that we think -- that will happen, I'd say, over the next couple of weeks. When you
say, I think so, over the next two, three weeks. We'll be setting the number, and we're going to pick -- it could be for China too. It could be
for China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. That pressure does not seem to be working with Beijing, which denies its indirect talks with Washington, contradicting the American
President. It's making it clear, though, that it does not like to be bullied.
Let's look at where the markets are right now. Green across the board. The Dow is up ever so slightly, 250 points. It's not hugely significant, but
green is certainly what investors like to see there.
GOLODRYGA: When we say ever so slightly, and it's 250 points, it gives you a sense of the back and forth and the ups and downs of --
ASHER: Yes, the volatility.
GOLODRYGA: -- the gyrations that we've been seeing, for sure.
ASHER: All right. Let's bring in Robert Koepp. He is the Director of Asia- Pacific Geoeconomics at Business -- and Business Initiative at Chapman University. He joins us live now from Orange County, California.
Robert, thank you so much for being with us. I want to start by talking about --
ROBERT KOEPP, DIRECTOR, ASIA-PACIFIC GEOECONOMICS & BUSINESS INITIATIVE: Thank you, Zain.
[11:10:00]
ASHER: -- these reciprocal tariffs. Just give us a sense of why, what the motive here, in terms of why Donald Trump is re-imposing these tariffs. If
you could look into your crystal ball and help me the President's mind, Robert. But, obviously, once you've isolated China, it puts a lot of
pressure on the U.S. to get trade deals with the sort of 90 to 100 other countries that it's negotiating with right now.
KOEPP: Right. And I guess the operative word there is negotiating. There doesn't seem to be a lot of signs in negotiations, which I think is both
why Trump has said he is going to relinquish tariffs against China and he is suggesting he'll go ahead and impose them on other countries. China is
the tougher nut to crack. The other countries, I can only imagine, are trying, those that are especially dependent on the U.S. market to export
to. But, I mean, where do you begin? These are existing trade relationships that have been in place for years. So, I imagine they're feeling the
pressure on both sides, and that's just his approach, ratchet up the pressure on other countries and relax it on China.
GOLODRYGA: And yet, you look at the real-life implications just the past three weeks have had on the U.S. economy, the fact that the President
appeared to be really shaken when he spoke with the CEOs of major U.S. corporations, Home Depot --
KOEPP: Yeah.
GOLODRYGA: -- and Walmart and Target warning him that, listen, in the next few weeks or so, we could see store shelves that are completely empty. The
supply chains are already being disrupted right now, and prices could go up for consumers, and they're not alone. Numerous earning calls the past few
weeks have suggested that the concern for recession and something even more significant is increasing by the day. What does this mean for the U.S.
economy and for consumers in general?
KOEPP: Well, it means it's not just markets, but consumers who are exposed. So, so far we've seen all this volatility in the markets, which has
definitely, even though Trump has said it doesn't affect him, it has -- it seems very much played on his mind, and it's definitely been moving his
advisors, like Scott Bessent, in particular, to urge him to back off. So, there is that, and then I think, indeed, the recent meeting with these
major retailers just further drove the point home. If you start to impact Trump's base, that's very dangerous territory for him and the Republican
Party. So, I think that's where it's really beginning to hit and make a difference.
ASHER: Yeah. Obviously Walmart customers are very much representative of Donald Trump's base.
KOEPP: Yeah.
ASHER: Just in terms of this trade deal with China, there has obviously been no negotiation so far, which is a problem for markets, because you
think about the complexities of any kind of trade deal with China, I mean, you're looking at everything from not just trade, but also the ease of
doing business for American companies in China. You're looking at intellectual property. You're looking at the sale of TikTok. You're looking
at Taiwan's sovereignty, for example. So, just the fact that there has been no movement, and, there is clearly an exit round, but nobody is willing to
take it, nobody is willing to pick up the phone first, how much faith do you actually have, Robert, that we're actually going to see any kind of
deal with China anytime soon?
KOEPP: Well, I think something has got to happen, right? I mean, there is too much at stake. I think where the Trump administration massively
miscalculated was China's willingness to stand up and say, no, we're not going to deal with you on that basis. Trump keeps saying that Xi Jinping
wants to talk to him, that they keep waiting for China to basically pick up the phone, of course.
I mean, the bigger argument would be the U.S. should have been doing some signaling, if not at the highest level, which Trump just keeps talking
about having this great relationship with Xi Jinping, there is no evidence of that in terms of a discussion, but simply using back channels or mid-
level channels to have some sort of discussion, let China know what was coming, and then have a strategy in place for moving forward. They haven't.
They've just asked China to say, sorry, we're bad. Please don't beat up on us, which they're just not going to do. They don't have any need to, and it
wouldn't be good sense on their part to approach things that way. So, that's where there is an impasse.
But, I think at some point, something is going to get. We'll have to see which side. I imagine there'll be some sort of min-level communications
that start to get things moving forward.
GOLODRYGA: No doubt this is causing pain and inflicting concern among the Chinese as well an export-driven economy. The Financial Times has an
article out this morning, saying that factories in China have begun slowing production and furloughing some workers, as the trade war unleashed by
President Trump dries up orders for products ranging from jeans to home appliances. Millions of Chinese workers could be impacted here and
ultimately lose their jobs. But, it's also true that Xi Jinping and just the way their government functions there in China, they can withstand a lot
more pain, or will be willing to allow for consumers and Chinese citizens to endure more pain than can be felt here in the United States.
[11:15:00]
So, does that give you an as to who will ultimately blink first?
KOEPP: So, that's a great question. There has been a lot of back and forth. I've even had some people comment on my comments about blinking. I think
China first blinked when they decided to cap their tariffs against U.S. imports at 125 percent, and then they said, we're not going to keep playing
this game. Now, you can also argue, well, even if that's a blink, that's the smarter move. I mean, why keep playing this back and forth with the
Trump administration?
So, to your point about Chinese consumers, that's also at the heart of the issue here. China's private consumption is less than 40 percent of their
GDP. In the U.S., it's about 70 percent. So, the two economies are structured differently, and what the U.S. is trying to do is say, China,
buy more of our stuff. China hasn't been buying that much, not only from us, but from around the world, to begin with, and to ask them to buy more
and change the structure of their economy, that's why they're so intransigent on this and not willing to budge. So, you can't really expect
pain on the Chinese consumer to make much difference. It's more on the worker. So, your point about the factories closing, that's where China is
going to feel it, and that's where the Xi administration will be paying a lot more close attention.
But, it just shows how the U.S. seems to misunderstand the leverage points. It's not on the Chinese consumer. It is on Chinese factories. But even
then, China, so far, is willing to sacrifice a lot of their industrial output that is sent to the U.S. in order to withstand the pressures they've
been receiving, and we'll just have to see how they redirect that. The big concern in the world is that they're going to start to move that export
surplus away from the U.S. into other markets and flood those markets, and that can create another disruption to the global economy.
ASHER: We just got a post on Truth Social by Donald Trump. He is essentially complaining, because both sides are really digging in their
heels at this point. He is complaining that China is sending Boeing jets back to the United States, which we sort of knew that they would. They had
intimated that. He is saying, Trump is saying, Boeing should default China for not taking the beautifully finished planes that China committed to
purchase. This is example of what China has done to the U.S. for years. He also complained about China having a role in fentanyl getting through the
borders of the United States. So, both sides really digging in their heels here. Scott Bessent is saying that there needs to be a much more fair trade
deal between the U.S. and China, and that it might take several years for some rebalancing to take place.
Just explain to us what a fair deal between the U.S. and China actually looks like.
KOEPP: Wow. Well, if you really agree, if we could hear what the Trump administration thinks it practically could look like. They seem to just
think China needs to stop exporting as much as they are to the U.S. and buy more from the U.S. I think a fair deal would be more along the lines of the
Chinese government makes it possible for the U.S. to access more of its markets. The big issue with China isn't tariffs. It's access to the
marketplace.
And ironically, Boeing, which you just mentioned, is one of the great success stories. It's an American product that Chinese purchasers, in this
case, corporate airlines, love to buy. And China's reaction, of course, to all this pressure has been, OK, if you're going to play that game with us,
we'll do the same with you. We won't buy these products. So, getting them to take the Boeing orders is just bringing things back to where they were
before. To really move forward on stuff would mean finding ways to restructure a lot of Chinese markets. Quite a lot of that issue with trade
deals with subsidies. It deals with protection for state-owned enterprises that have monopolies on markets or heavy influence there, and that's just
going to take a lot more work.
So, I would say if the Trump administration can get away from focusing on tariffs and having real discussions on structural change, that would be the
right direction. At the same time, I think, again, China isn't willing to budge on this. If the Trump administration really wants to make progress,
they should start working with our allies. It's not only the U.S. that has a problem with the way the Chinese marketplace operates. All the countries
it trades with do. So, why not work with them and really bring pressure to bear? China can't stand up to the whole world.
GOLODRYGA: Well, that's what Secretary Bessent was saying yesterday, that they should work with allies. The problem is they've really insulted and
hurt allies along the way, introducing --
KOEPP: Exactly.
GOLODRYGA: -- these tariffs on almost every single trading partner that we have. And we should note on Boeing, it was the CEO yesterday that really
first made the headlines about those three planes being turned around and saying that China had ordered 50 Boeing planes, and now we see the first of
those that have been canceled or at least paused temporarily, we hope.
[11:20:00]
Robert Koepp, thank you so much.
ASHER: Thank you, Robert.
KOEPP: Thank you, guys.
GOLODRYGA: Let's go to Vanessa Yurkevich, who joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange. How are things looking this morning, this minute? I
don't know. This could all change --
ASHER: This second, actually.
GOLODRYGA: -- within one tweet or post.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, listen, markets are off to a good start this morning, but we know
that investors are watching those Truth Social posts, any news lines very, very closely.
What I'm hearing from analysts right now is that there is a sense of hopefulness and optimism, and that's why you see markets in the green right
now, because if you kind of parse through all the back and forth between the U.S. and China and what they're saying about each other, in there,
there was some commentary from the White House about a de-escalation potentially with China, and they're really holding on to that hope right
now. But, of course, as you mentioned, within a single day, there can just be major volatility here on Wall Street. So, nothing is settled yet by any
means, and we know that investors and traders are looking for concrete deals. Yes, these conversations going back and forth, or maybe not going
back and forth, are helpful, but they certainly do not turn the tide here.
I want to also show you CNN's Fear and Greed Index. This is sort of investor sentiment. If you can see on your screen there, we're in fear
territory, and I bring that to your attention, not because that's necessarily good, but it is much better than where we have been since late
March, when we were in extreme fear. So, yes, while fear is not great, it is certainly better than where we were. So, investors feeling maybe just a
hint more optimism as they're working the markets today.
But, worth noting, though, since February, the markets have shed $6.5 trillion in value. And since April, since April 2nd, around the time when
the President made that big announcement about those reciprocal tariffs, the market has shed $2.5 trillion. So, while we're seeing green on Wall
Street right now, certainly investors, traders like to see that. It does not erase just the volatility and the market losses that we have seen,
guys, in the last several weeks.
GOLODRYGA: So, everything is relative, from extreme fear to now just fear. I'm not sure if that makes it feel much better, but we will take it,
Vanessa Yurkevich.
ASHER: Bring popcorn. That's what I say.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah.
ASHER: All right. Vanessa, thank you so much.
All right. Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between Pakistan and India. This week's violence has prompted both sides now to retaliate. We'll look
at the fallout in about 15 minutes or so.
GOLODRYGA: Plus, lining up to say goodbye. Tens of thousands of mourners passed the Pope's casket at St. Peter's Basilica. We'll have a live report
from Rome.
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GOLODRYGA: All right. You are looking at live pictures from Vatican City, where thousands of mourners continue to stream into St. Peter's Basilica to
pay their final respects to Pope Francis.
ASHER: Yeah. So many people have actually queued up and took to the church, and essentially, the church had to stay open for most of the night ahead of
the funeral on Saturday. According to the Vatican, more than 60,000 people have really passed by his coffin to bid him farewell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now I had the chance to go there and see the Pope, either he was dead, but I saw him and I could say goodbye.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was kind of just a mixture of emotions. I mean, I'm anxious a lot walking in. Just -- it's such a surreal place, and it's very
holy, and seeing the body and just remembering everything that he stood for is very important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Let's go to CNN Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman. He is joining us from Rome. So, Ben, the fact that 60,000 people, 60,000
people, passed by the coffin to pay their respects in just the first 12 hours, I mean, that shows you just how beloved this Pope was. I mean, you
have people essentially waiting for hours outside of St. Peter's Basilica and inside as well. Walk us through that.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, Bexy (ph) is well over 61,000, and keep in mind that originally they were going
to close the basilica at midnight every night until the funeral happens, but they had to change that. So, since the basilica opened at 11:00 a.m.
yesterday local time, it's only been closed for one hour. That was between six and seven in the morning local time, when they had to do a quick clean-
up job. So, clearly, they're just having to deal with this massive people that continues to line up outside, hoping to see the Pope, and of course,
now they're also making preparations, not just in the Vatican City, but in Rome itself, for the arrival of more than 130 delegations to the funeral,
including 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs.
Now, the Italian police have mobilized 2,000 of their officers to try to maintain safety and security, in addition to 400 traffic police, always
something you need here in Rome. They have also deployed undercover anti- terrorist police. There is -- the Army has been deployed in some areas, and also anti-drone units. So, there is a lot of work going into the
preparation for this funeral, which begins at 10 o'clock in the morning on Saturday.
Also, we heard today that there has been the third congregation of cardinals since the Pope passed away on Monday morning. They obviously are
making the final touches on the funeral itself, but also looking ahead to the Conclave. We still don't know when that is going to take place.
According to the rules laid down by the late Pope Francis, the Conclave is supposed to start 15 to 20 days after the death of the Pope, which means,
at the earliest, it could start on the 5th of May, on a Monday. But then, again, things, if all the Cardinals are in Rome, all the Cardinals that can
vote, that is, around 130, then the Conclave could theoretically happen even earlier. Zain, Bianna.
ASHER: That was a good point. Ben Wedeman live for us there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Well, many in Africa praise Pope Francis for bringing attention to struggles across the African continent. We'll talk to Nigerian Catholic
priest and professor Stan Chu Ilo about Francis' legacy. That's in about 10 minutes' time.
ASHER: And Kashmir is once again a flashpoint for violence. A tourists' massacre there is escalating tensions between both India and Pakistan.
After the break, we'll look at retaliatory measures on both sides.
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[11:30:00]
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ASHER: All right. Welcome back to One World. I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. Here are some of the international headlines we're watching today.
ASHER: All right. At this hour, thousands of people have lined up to pay their respects to Pope Francis, who died Monday of a stroke and heart
failure. The pontiff will lie in state at St. Peter's Basilica until his funeral on Saturday. In just the past day and a half, more than 60,000
people have passed his casket.
GOLODRYGA: The Trump administration has asked the nation's high court to allow it to begin enforcing a ban on transgender servicemembers. Now, lower
courts have issued several rulings against the ban. One in particular said it violated the constitutional rights of active duty transgender members of
the military. Now the administration wants the Supreme Court to let the ban proceed.
ASHER: The judge overseeing the Kilmar Abrego Garcia's case has paused the expedited fact-finding process for one week. That means the Trump
administration won't have to explain what it's doing to facilitate his return, at least for now. Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to an El
Salvador prison last month.
GOLODRYGA: well, the fallout continues from a militant attack in Kashmir, which left 26 dead. On Wednesday, India accused Pakistan of supporting
terrorist groups in the region and took a number of punitive steps, including closing a key border crossing. Now, Pakistan has started -- has
suspended trade with India, as well as closing its airspace, canceling visas for Indian nationals and expelling Indian diplomats.
Nic Robertson joins us now from London with more on this volatile and sensitive situation. A lot of concerns that things could continue to
escalate, perhaps even militarily, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah. It's not atypical for India and Pakistan to escalate tensions diplomatically, and that's what
tends to cause the concern, because they have in the past come to blows on their border, high up there in the Himalayas. The Siachen Corridor is one
of the highest battle lines between the two countries in the world. It's about 21,000 feet. They fought over that before the Kargil Mountain as
well, has been heavily fought over. So, the international community very aware that tensions that are verbal today can escalate.
[11:35:00]
And obviously, what's on people's minds is these are both powers that have nuclear weapons. That causes concern.
Where we actually at today, I think India's decision to suspend the Indus Water Treaty, which goes back to the 1960s, which sort of is at the core of
the dispute over the Kashmir region there in the Himalayas, because it's all about the origins of the water and who has control over the water,
desperately needed for both countries at certain times of the year. The suspension of that is something that's very sensitive for both countries,
and we haven't seen this before, and a Pakistani government minister called this water warfare. So, when the escalation happens as quickly as we've
seen, tit for tat, denying visas, expelling diplomats, closing the border, stopping trade, all of that, it points in a potentially negative direction.
I think there is also one other thing that's worth factoring in, as we consider the knock-on effects here, and that is while Pakistan's attention
will be diverted now to its eastern border and concerns about rising tensions with India, it's actually its western border with militant
Jihadist-type groups that's really been on fire, if you will, over the past six months, 12 months in particular, in Balochistan, and what was former
the North West Frontier Province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as it's called now.
If Pakistan's attention is diverted eastwards to India, that gives those militant groups greater freedom potentially along that border where they
want to take control, and the affiliation between the terror groups who struck In India and those groups on the western border, there are deep
historic ties there. No one is saying they're connected at the moment, but there is a symbiosis that works for both of them in this environment.
ASHER: So, Nic, for those people who may not be following this conflict closely, just talk to us about the history of this disputed territory,
Kashmir, because you have India and Pakistan that both sort of control parts of Kashmir, but both countries claim Kashmir in its entirety. This is
a conflict that goes all the way back to partition. We're talking about 1947 when Kashmir -- when, rather, India and Pakistan both got separated
from the colonial power, Great Britain. Just talk to us about that.
ROBERTSON: Yeah. It's been an area of disputed territory. And one of -- going back to the core, one of the core reasons, not just because these
beautiful mountains, per se, and Pakistan, a majority Muslim country, India, a majority Hindu country, not just because they feel that that's the
rightful place that their nationals should live, but because it actually has very significant economic relevance.
But, the disputes there are very deeply ingrained. There was a time when Pakistan's intelligence services were blamed by India, and we see that in
echoes of the statements that we've heard coming from Indian officials over the past couple of days, that these terrorists had support from Pakistan,
that we will go and get these terrorists and their backers as well, that Pakistan's intelligence services that expedite its ambitions and claims
over territory in Kashmir were training groups like Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, from which the current group is understood to be potentially affiliated with,
the one that killed the people, the 26 tourists just a couple of days ago, that these jihadist groups were getting support from the Pakistani state.
So, the enmity here isn't just the terrorist groups themselves, but government to government, and when the governments have nuclear weapons and
are willing to go toe to toe into fights, as they have done in the past, in very short order, that sort of gives you some of the context. But, this has
been long running. This is a long disputed area. The UN has been involved in there. Many -- hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled there over
set from there over several generations, and the enmity still exists, because it's still an unsolved issue. Both countries still claim it. There
has never been a mechanism, an international body or mechanism to find a solution to this. It's been parked, and at moments like this, it sparks
back up again.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. Concerns about the fact that you've got two nuclear powers right next to each other as well.
[11:40:00]
Nic Robertson in London, thank you so much.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. From the very first days of his papacy, Pope Francis advocated for the poor, for migrants and refugees.
Our Clarissa Ward has the story of a group of Syrian refugees, and how pontiff helped give them a new life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a day Wafaa Id (ph) will forget, arriving on Italian soil with Pope Francis
on his personal plane.
WARD (on camera): And how are you feeling in this moment?
WARD (on camera): (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD (on camera): (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD (on camera): We felt safe.
WARD (on camera): (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD (voice-over): Safe for the first time since leaving war-torn Syria. Wafaa, her husband and their two children were among three families
assisted by the Catholic Charity Sant'Egidio, to lead the Lesbos refugee camp in Greece and start a new life in Italy. Their host, the Pope himself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD (voice-over): He came to grieve each one of us, she tells us, and he placed a hand on my son Omar's head. How did you feel? I ask her. A dream,
she says. It was like a dream. Back in Rome, Pope Francis invited the families to lunch as they settled in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD (on camera): (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD (voice-over): She remembers him as calm and kind.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD (on camera): (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD (on camera): See. See. He is smiling so nicely.
WARD (voice-over): Wafaa and her children have now been in Italy for nine years. As the political tide has turned against welcoming refugees, she is
acutely aware of how fortunate they are.
WARD (on camera): What do you think that Pope Francis saw that other leaders did not?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD (voice-over): In my opinion, he saw that refugees are also human, she said, that they are people. They feel. They get sick. They have families,
and they also have a right to live well.
WARD (on camera): If you had the opportunity to speak to Pope Francis one more time before he had died, what would you like him to know?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD (on camera): (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD (voice-over): I would tell him, thank you, she says. Just thank you.
Clarissa Ward, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[11:45:00]
GOLODRYGA: In Argentina, Pope Francis' hometown soccer club is remembering the late pontiff as well. The San Lorenzo soccer team held a mass in Buenos
Aires Wednesday evening. Francis' love of soccer and his team never diminished as Pope.
ASHER: Yeah. And fans have been bidding the pontiff farewell at the club's chapel and say he was a card-carrying member of the club.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSCAR LUCCHINI, CARETAKER, CHAPEL OF SAN LORENZO DE ALMAGRO SOCCER CLUB (Interpreted): The day we gave him his membership card, he said he would
accept it, but added, I'll pay the fee, he said. He paid his membership fees for the San Lorenzo club religiously. We handed him the card in
person, and it had the membership number 88235. Now, he has passed away at the age of 88 at 02:35 in the morning Argentina time. So, we don't know if
it's a blessing, a coincidence, or something he sent us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: And the club's President says the players will wear special commemorative jerseys at a match on Saturday, the day of the Pope's
funeral.
GOLODRYGA: I love that.
ASHER: The European Union has fined Apple and Meta nearly $800 million combined in the first enforcement of its landmark digital competition law.
The antitrust fines risk escalating tensions between the EU and the Trump administration, as CNN's Clare Sebastian explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a delicate moment for the European Union, given the current trade climate. On the one hand, they
had to be seen to be enforcing their digital laws, but with Trump's reciprocal tariffs paused, and Europe hoping they'll be dropped completely,
they also had reason to avoid inflaming further tensions with the U.S., especially because the Trump administration has made it clear it sees
Europe's tech regulations as nontariff barriers, against which it could retaliate with tariffs. So, the fines themselves are relatively modest.
Apple, which was found by the EU to not be doing enough to allow app developers to steer users to offers outside the App Store, well, they will
find around $570 million, a small change for a company that made almost $400 billion in annual revenue last year. Now, Meta, which the EU says
through its consental (ph) pay system on Facebook and Instagram, didn't offer users who didn't consent to their personal data being used for
personalized advertising, an equivalent service which uses less of their personal data, well, they were hit with a fine of around $230 million.
Previous antitrust penalties in Europe have been in the billions.
But, there is a sting. Both companies have to pay the fines and change their behavior within 60 days. Meta already has a fix in place, which the
EU is assessing, or they risk fines going up, and both companies have slammed the decision. Apple promising to appeal, saying the EU decisions
are, quote, "bad for the privacy and security of our users, bad for products, and force us to give away our technology for free." Meta going
even further, saying that the Commission forcing us to change our business model, effectively imposes a multi-billion dollar tariff on Meta while
requiring us to offer an inferior service. The pointed use there of the word tariff, which this isn't, making it clear that while the EU is still
willing to get tough on tech, the political climate and Trump's trade war have raised the stakes.
Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: Our thanks to Clare for that report.
The start of the Atlantic hurricane season is just weeks away, and the agency that helps U.S. communities devastated by natural disasters is
losing about 20 percent of its full-time staff.
CNN's Gabe Cohen has more on the DOGE buyout initiative at FEMA.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've learned that roughly 1,000 FEMA workers, about 20 percent of the permanent full-time workforce at the
agency, are expected to take this latest DOGE voluntary buyout, and that includes a lot of FEMA's senior leadership, some of the people who are
long-time officials with the most institutional knowledge, who play really critical roles during disaster response and recovery, and who are now
voluntarily heading for the door amid this cratering morale that we are seeing at FEMA, and that's because the agency has been criticized
relentlessly by President Trump and his allies in recent months, and the administration has vowed to eliminate FEMA altogether.
In recent weeks, the Department of Homeland Security has even administered at least a dozen lie detector tests to FEMA officials for alleged media
leaks. One senior FEMA official told me, quote, "People don't want to work here anymore, and they're worried about what the agency will look like in a
year." Another senior FEMA official told me, quote, "All of these people have seen their work destroyed and denigrated. They started seeing that
FEMA might actually be killed."
Now, this is just one aspect of the workforce reduction that FEMA is facing right now, and about a half dozen FEMA officials voiced serious concern to
me about what all of this is going to mean when hurricane season gets underway in the coming weeks, given that preparations for storm season have
already been stifled by the turmoil that FEMA is facing.
[11:50:00]
Gabe Cohen, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: We will be right back with more after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(VIDEO PLAYING)
ASHER: A somber ceremony, as Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day. Just hours ago, sirens sounded throughout the country, and people paused,
literally stopped whatever they were doing. The day honors the six million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust, and recognizes real
strength of the Jewish people.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid a wreath at Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem. Victims were honored today in
the annual March of the Living through Auschwitz as well. At Wednesday's memorial at Auschwitz-Birkenau, some Holocaust survivors shared their
stories.
ASHER: Yeah. As they recalled their personal suffering, they also stressed the importance of bearing witness. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MARTIN STERN, HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR: As a child, I was arrested from school at the age of five and sent to Westerbork transit camp in the
Netherlands, and from there, unlike others who were sent to Auschwitz or Sobibor, I was sent on the same kind of train, but to Theresienstadt,
Terezin, in what's now the Czech Republic.
SOL NAYMAN, HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR: Well, it's an experience that will last with us for 800 years. I won't be around as many of the survivors are. I'm
a very young 89, but the death rate among survivors is still very high, and what our responsibility, as witnesses of the Shoah, we've been through it.
We've witnessed what went on. Our obligation is to ensure that the young people become witnesses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Our senior legal analyst Elie Honig knows about bearing witness in his own family. His paternal grandfather lost most of his family in the
Holocaust, and Elie proudly bears his name. And then this happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST (voice-over): I've lived my whole life thinking I was the only Elie Honig, and then I met Dr. Elie Honig, an 82-
year-old Holocaust survivor.
[11:55:00]
DR. ELIE HONIG, HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR: Well, my grandson called me up and said, do you know Elie Honig? And I said, I heard the name, but I have no
idea who he is. Why not try to contact you? And we've been talking ever since.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Such a great story. In our next hour of One World, Elie Honig, the one that works here at CNN, and his namesake, are going to be on to
talk about what that means to them and what doing the right thing means to them as well, as they share the heart break and horrors of the Holocaust.
It's so important to note that so many of these survivors, every year, we're losing more and more of them. So, listening to their stories and
their reflections even more important now.
ASHER: Yeah.
GOLODRYGA: And stay with us. We'll have more One World after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:00]
END
