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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Holds Cabinet Meeting After Negative Economic Report; Trump Approval Down, But Could The Number Be Off?; Mohsen Mahdawi Released After Judge's Order; U.S. Secretary Of State Speaks To Salvadoran President About Garcia Case; Ukraine Could Sign Minerals Deal With U.S. In Next 24 Hours; Gaza Closer To Famine As Israel's Blockade Nears Third Month; Kenyan Startup Pioneers Direct Air Capture To Remove CO2; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired April 30, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:00]
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Believe that he is responsible for economic conditions today and Biden that's rather quick,
how fast that turned around.
But, you know, that was a -- that meeting confirmed what we were talking about before it started, which is that he is heavily touting investment as
evidence that his economic program is working.
So did Joe Biden. And I think what Biden learned was that Honda or Intel opening a new plant in Ohio or the Taiwanese chip manufacturer opening a
new plant in Arizona doesn't mean that much to a construction worker in Las Vegas who can't afford his rent.
You know, Zain, the post-World War II high of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. was 19.7 million. When he took office again in 20 -- January, there
were 12.7 million people working in manufacturing.
If this all goes as well as he could possibly hope, what would he add? Maybe three million more jobs in manufacturing? There are 310 million
people who own smartphones, you know. There are 17 million people a year who buy cars and the trade off in terms of more manufacturing jobs against
how many people will have to pay more is a very tough one politically.
The other thing he jumped out at me, the transportation secretary saying that they're not going to get even transportation and infrastructure grants
to states and cities unless they accept Trump policies on all the social issues that blue states have rejected over the years ending DEI, preventing
transgender girls who are participating in high school sports. There are all sorts of others.
You know, we are -- you know, I said in his first term that Trump governed as a wartime president with blue America rather than any foreign adversary
as the enemy. And you really see that ramping up here again in the second term, the arrest of the judge, the executive order he cited in this week on
sanctuary cities.
This is heading back to the Supreme Court. Again, how much can he be coerced, try to coerce reluctant governments, state and local governments
with grants that are unrelated to the policy that he is trying to coerce them to accept.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: Ron Brownstein, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
All right. You're watching the second hour of ONE WORLD.
President Donald Trump has addressed, wrapped up a cabinet meeting at the White House after receiving bad news on two fronts, both related to his
signature campaign promises. We'll take you back to the White House if he takes questions from the press.
Meantime, let's guess right now, it's a Vanessa Yurkevich, joining us live now in New York.
So, Vanessa, obviously the big sort of economic news we got today was the GDP number coming in, showing a bit of a contraction. This is the worst
number we've seen since 2022.
And by the way, a significant slowdown compared to what we saw in the fourth quarter of last year. We knew these numbers were going to be skewed
because of the uptick in imports. A lot of people, a lot of companies really trying to get ahead of these tariffs.
Just walk us through how that affected these numbers.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So this was a contraction. We were expecting certainly slower growth in the first
quarter of this year, but this was a contraction that wasn't quite expected. But as you mentioned, imports really were the drag on GDP. So
imports actually grew. The number of imports coming into the United States grew, but that actually counts as a subtraction from GDP.
You had consumer spending. That was steady, but weakened a little bit. Investment, as you heard the president touting in his cabinet meeting,
investment did grow, but you had government spending actually drop because of spending at the federal level. That can be tracked back to DOGE.
You actually had exports increase a little bit, but then you had those imports that were coming into the country at such a high level. If we just
compare the last quarter of 2024, imports actually dropped slightly by point -- excuse me, by 1.9 percent imports in the first quarter of this
year up more than 41 percent.
I was listening to the president as you were, Zain, and I thought it was interesting when he talked about that this GDP report was really President
Biden's report. He talked about distortions in the report. He talked about something called core GDP, which is not actually a thing.
But basically, he was trying to say that if you take imports out of the equation, GDP looked pretty good, but that's not how GDP works, right? It
takes all of these components and it looks at what the U.S. economy is essentially doing.
I also thought it was interesting to hear from Howard Lutnick, who talked about how the president got rid of this de minimis exemption. Basically,
that was any product coming into the country worth less than $800 was not going to be taxed or tariffed at any level. He got rid of that.
So even very, very cheap items are now being tariffed. And he said that the president did this to basically bring back production for small businesses
here in the United States, that this de minimis exemption, as it existed, was knocking out small businesses.
[12:05:03]
But we just got, Zain, ADP's report of private sector jobs and it actually showed a decline in the month of March of small business jobs.
So, obviously, any politician, whether it's President Trump, President Biden, is going to spin these reports the way that they want to, the way
that works best for their agenda.
But really, it's very clear that GDP is contracting in this first quarter. Obviously, we get sort of second readings about exactly what happened. But
this is the initial reading here.
We also got inflation news that showed that inflation is cooling. This is PCE, the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation. But that is
backwards-looking. That is March.
And, obviously, April is really the time that these tariffs sort of ingrained in the economy. And you can see the Dow down about 183 points.
That's really coming off of the lows of the day down almost 700 points after this GDP news came out.
But Wall Street clearly not loving these numbers. And economists are really going to have to sort of figure out whether or not we are headed for a
recession. Because as you know, Zain, two negative quarters of GDP signal that there is a recession.
We have this one quarter. We'll have to see what happens in the second quarter. So much can change, Zain. Because obviously, the imports are
probably not going to be a huge part of the second quarter because this was companies front-loading, trying to get all of their goods into the country
before these tariffs took effect in April, Zain.
ASHER: Yes, good point. The Vanessa Yurkevich life for us there. Thank you so much.
All right. And all this week, we've actually been discussing President Donald Trump's slipping approval ratings. But time and time again, we have
seen the American president outperform expectations when voters get to the ballot box.
CNN's data analyst, Harry Enten, back with us today. Harry, I've been waiting literally an hour and six minutes for the highlight of my show
getting to talk to you.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: It's nice to see you.
ASHER: The only person who can make polls exciting. Harry Enten, just walk us -- so put these numbers, be this leading is my question. Not that you
ever answer my question anyway, but go ahead.
ENTEN: Yes. Look -- I mean, look, we've heard Donald Trump say and his advocates say these polls are fake news. And then, of course, you remember
back in 2024 that the polls seem to underestimate Donald Trump.
So the question I asked is, could the polls be lowballing Trump again? And if so, what does that mean?
And why don't we just take a look at it? Because I think you'll find that the president and his advocates line of inquiry and statements, they're BS.
I mean, that's the scientific term for it. They're BS.
What am I talking about here? Trump's average net approval rating.
Well, if you take an average across ABC, CNN, Fox, Maris, "The New York Times," among registered voters, currently, he's at minus 12 points. Way
underwater. Way, way down there.
But let's say if the polls are off like they were in 2024, what would his net approval rating be? Well, it would still be way underwater.
What are we talking about? It'd be minus 10 points, which would still be historically awful, basically only matching himself in the first term at
this point for a presidency. Because it's important to keep in mind, while the polls did underestimate him in 2024, they only underestimated his
margin by about two points, OK?
So we're talking about 2024. But, of course, let's look forward, right? We have a midterm that's coming up in 2026. A lot of House Republicans might
be wondering the same question. Maybe the polls are underestimating Donald Trump's support.
So let's take a look back at the last midterm election in which Donald Trump wasn't back to President of the United States back in 2018.
Again, currently the polls have Donald Trump's net approval rating at minus 12 points. But what if the polls are off like they were during the last
midterm election? Well, guess what, Donald Trump's net approval rating would actually be lower. It would be minus 13 points.
Because back in 2018, the national polls actually underestimated House Democrats, not House Republicans. So you see all this data here.
And what I think is so important to keep in mind, Zain, is this. I recall back during the 2016 cycle, our colleague Brianna Keilar did an interview
with Michael Cohen (ph). He's like, what numbers are you talking about? And she goes, polls. And he goes, what polls? And she said, all of them.
And that is exactly what we're talking about here, because take a look at Donald Trump's net approval rating. I got five recent prominent national
polls. You'll notice they all basically look the same. We're talking about "The New York Times," 12 points underwater, Maris, 10 points underwater,
Fox, 11 points underwater, CNN, 14 points underwater. And ABC, 13 points underwater when it comes to registered voters.
The bottom line is, it's polls, all of them that have Donald Trump underwater. There is no historical reason to believe that even if the polls
are off by a little bit, that they are anywhere near the ballpark where there's more Americans who like Donald Trump's job at this point than
dislike him.
The fact is he just has to deal with it. The American people don't like what he's doing.
But I can tell you, Zain, I'm very glad you're back in the office because I always like what you're doing.
ASHER: Oh, you're so sweet. And thank you for reminding me about that stellar interview with our colleague, Brianna Keilar.
ENTEN: It was great. It was great.
ASHER: Polls? All of them. All of them. With that look -- that look on her face? It was classic. Turned into a mean. Amazing. I completely forgot
about that. It was like eight years ago or something.
[12:10:08]
ENTEN: I -- it was. I just wish I was that good on T.V. But you know what, I always can strive to be a little bit better.
ASHER: Harry Enten, I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow, another 24 hours to get to see you again.
ENTEN: It'll come around the corner fast.
ASHER: I hardly wait already.
ENTEN: We'll be back around. I'll see you tomorrow.
ASHER: OK. Bye, darling. Take care.
ENTEN: Bye.
ASHER: All right. While the president's approval rating, approval rating continues to slide, a number of democratic governors are offering their own
critique of his first 100 days in office.
Governors from Illinois, New York, Minnesota, and Massachusetts each took turns on Tuesday, slamming the president's policies during a town hall
hosted by a progressive media organization.
Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic Party's 2024 vice presidential nominee, among those taking part.
Listen, as Illinois's governor, JB Pritzker calls on his party to fight and take their power back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JB PRITZKER (D-IL): It's time to fight. Everybody has to get up, stand up, speak out, show up. And if you can't go somewhere to do that, well, go
online and make sure you're speaking up and showing up online.
And if you can't do that, how about calling your congressperson, your senator, to make your voice heard?
Everybody has got to stand up for not only what's best for themselves and their families, but also their neighbors and their friends.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: I want to bring in CNN's senior politics reporter, Stephen Collinson. So, Stephen, just in terms of -- well, obviously, we've been
covering Donald Trump's 100 days in office. I mean, this is 100 days like no other.
I mean, the sweeping changes have been unprecedented. They're coming in thick and fast. It's everything from obviously the tariffs, which seem to
change by the day, but also ignoring court orders as well and, um, deporting people without due process. The list goes on.
How weak do Democrats look amid all of this?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER: I think the -- there's two things here. First of all, they look weak because they're not really doing
anything to resist any of this.
The problem is they don't have any institutional power to resist it. They don't have either the Houses of Congress. They don't have committee chairs
that can do investigations. We've seen them try to do various things, give speeches, hold sit-ins, have marches. You know, that's fine, but it doesn't
stop this absolute constitutional bulldozer that is Donald Trump. Really the only constraint on him has been the courts.
So it is interesting that you see people like Governor Pritzker, for example, start to realize that there is this vacuum that Democrats on the
ground really want to see some resistance. And he's moving into that. He was at the weekend in New Hampshire, which is obviously one of the early
voting states. It's clear that he's making the first moves to a potential presidential campaign.
So governors do have power. They can stand up and take on an administration. They have a lot of media coverage. So a lot of people think
that the next democratic nominee may very well be a governor because they at least have some institutional capacity to take the fight to the
administration.
ASHER: I want to sort of talk about this idea of the Trump administration ignoring the rule of law, which I think a lot of people find quite
frightening. We saw in that cabinet meeting there, he essentially, just in terms of talking about deportations, he brought up the courts and sort of
trying to blame the court system in America for trying to tie his hands, saying -- making a joke out of it, saying basically for some reason, you
know, the American justice system doesn't really like the idea of deporting, you know, criminals out of the country.
And obviously, we saw this issue of immigration and deportations without due process being brought up in that ABC interview as well, where he said,
listen, yes, of course I could bring back Abrego Garcia, intimating, of course, that he's not going to.
And the journalist in question was essentially asking, listen, you have to obey the rule of law. And President Donald Trump seemed to sort of shy away
from that question. He didn't address it directly if I remember correctly.
Just in terms of the consequences or having a U.S. president that continues to flout the rule of law in this country, what are the ramifications of
that? I mean, we're only 100 days in. We've still got just under 2,000 more days to go, if I did my math correctly, I think.
COLLINSON: Yes. I think there are the immediate consequences as to the situation when you have an administration that constantly tests the rule of
law, the expansiveness of the president's powers and the constitution itself, taking upon itself to interpret what the president can do under the
constitution, rather than allowing the courts to decide that. That is very corrosive.
But it is the DNA of this administration that they will test the courts and judges on pretty much every single issue, every day to see what they can
get.
[12:15:06]
I think in many ways, this mirrors Trump's behavior in his personal and business life where he's used the courts, not necessarily to decide whether
how he could stay within the bounds of the law, but try to expand his influence or his life. And that, when it's transferred to a governmental
setting, is very constitutional questionable.
And there's a sense, I think, in which the current administration may end up changing the presidency itself, because there are multiple lawsuits
taking place on almost every aspect of policy.
Trump, although he's having a lot of trouble getting through the lower level of district courts, isn't going to lose all of these cases. Some of
them are going to get to the Supreme Court and it's conservative majority, and while they're likely to push back for many constitutional questions,
even if Trump gets, say, 30 percent of his cases endorsed by the Supreme Court, that is going to change the scope of the presidency itself, which
has already been expanding over the last four or five decades, and it's changing what I think the founders believe that the presidency would be.
When you have a Democratic president, for example, is he or she going to come in and not use those same powers to push their own priorities? I think
that is a very sort of profound historical question that will start unfolding after the administration.
But there's no doubt that this administration is changing the country by its, you know, very aggressive use of the courts.
ASHER: Change in the country, and also just the economic changes that we're already seeing in real little time, does make your head spin.
Just in terms of how the president is going about spinning this headline GDP number. Obviously, you know, I've mentioned it multiple times, and the
numbers were skewed because of imports, but still, the president continues to blame the Biden administration. By the way, my math was way off, it's
about 1,300 days that Donald Trump has left in his term.
But just in terms of looking at the contrast between the economy in this country under Joe Biden versus now. I mean, the last quarter GDP, we got
last year was expanding at a rate of 2.5 percent. Plus, inflation was coming down. The economy was considered very resilient because you had
Jerome Powell manage to sort of pull off this soft landing without causing an economic recession.
And here we have it, just three months into Donald Trump's presidency. We're seeing all sorts of flashing red lights.
Just talk to us about whether or not Americans really buy into the excuse that this is all Joe Biden's fault.
COLLINSON: The latest polling doesn't seem to suggest that they do believe that it was all Joe Biden's fault. And I think one of the reasons are
because President Trump stood up there at the beginning of this month on so-called Liberation Day with his big board showing everybody which
countries were going to get tariff and which rate.
That was a massive public moment, and pretty much all the adverse economic consequences that have unfolded are going to be ascribed to that moment
because it was so public. It was interesting watching that cabinet meeting.
And there was something totalitarian about it in some ways. And I'm not saying that everything the Trump administration is doing and saying is not
working or it's not true, but you get a sense in that meeting, and the incentive in that meeting is for officials to tell the President that
everything's going great, that his tariffs are working, that investment is exploding, that everything's going to be fine, and everything's going to be
great.
That only reinforces, I think, the President's view that what he's doing is the right thing. And this rather idiosyncratic interpretation he has of the
power of tariffs, and his denial that tariffs, you know, cause prices to rise for consumers.
And the other point is this disappointing growth figure. This is before most of the impact of the tariffs takes place. We haven't seen yet the
prices rising significantly in retail outlets, supply chain disruptions because the imports aren't coming in, because trade just isn't worth it at
that rate of tariffs.
So this is a warning, and I think it's going to get a lot worse. That makes me think that the White House must be increasingly desperate to get some of
these supposed trade deals finalized, that they say are going to offset the impact of tariffs, and that are going to make every American wealthier.
But just watching the cabinet meeting, you can see that the facts of the economy, the facts of what tariff do, and what Trump believes is happening,
do not add up. And that's quite a troubling sign of denial, I think.
[12:20:01]
ASHER: All right. Stephen Collinson live for us there. Thank you so much.
We'll be right back with more after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Columbia University student detained by immigration authorities has been released after judge ordered him to be let go. 34-
year-old Mohsen Mahdawi was at an interview for his U.S. citizenship two weeks ago when he was detained.
Moments ago, he spoke to reporters after he left a courthouse in Vermont calling his arrest and abduction. Mahdawi is a Palestinian refugee. The
Trump administration has pushed back on efforts to release international students that says are involved in activities, it believes are not in the
interests of the United States.
CNN's Polo Sandoval joins us live now from New York. So, Polo, what more do we know about how his release came about?
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Zain, that video that we're seeing right now, that was from earlier today as Mahdawi emerged from the courthouse in
Burlington, Vermont to address his supporters alongside with some of his legal representatives.
So, you'll hear from in just a few moments, but first, the quick backstory on Mahdawi. He was born and raised at a refugee camp in Israeli occupied
West Bank, moved to the United States in 2014, had been a permanent resident in the United States for the last 10 years or so and was in the
process of securing his U.S. citizenship.
In fact, his attorney's saying that he showed up to meet with authorities back on April 14th as part of a previously scheduled appointment to take
that citizenship oath and then fill out some paperwork before essentially becoming a U.S. citizen. So, he had been thoroughly vetted.
Instead, though, his attorney say, he was placed in detention and presumably even slated for deportation. He said earlier today from the
steps of the courthouse that he was even taken to the airport in Burlington, Vermont on that day, only to miss the flight. And because of
that, partly because of that, he was able to allow in Vermont in addition to some court rulings that were issued.
And then today, a judge deciding, ruling that he could be released on bond pending his proceedings. So, let's hear now more from his -- actually
before we get to that, I think the overarching sort of story here is also really important, right?
This is the developing and ongoing theme and story of the Donald Trump administration, essentially targeting students in the United States for
activism. His family, his attorneys, has specifically argued that he was targeted for being an outspoken critic of the Israeli military campaign in
Gaza. And because of that, he participated in several protests and demonstrations at Columbia University.
[12:25:07]
Of course, he would not be the only one fellow Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, he remains behind bars, also with a fairly similar, albeit
different case against him on behalf of the Trump administration.
So again, for now, Mohsen Mahdawi out on bond after a judge in Burlington, Vermont ordered he be released.
ASHER: Yes. We'll see what this means for the other cases in terms of college students who are here legally, who, and if they have green cards,
who end up being detained without due process. We'll see what this particular case means for them as well. I'm sure their lawyers are watching
this very, very closely.
Polo Sandoval live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right. More breaking news on Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration. CNN has just learned that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been in touch
with Salvadoran President about the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Remember, he's the wrongfully deported man, sent to a notorious prison in El
Salvador.
Just yesterday, President Trump told ABC News, he would not pick up the phone and get Garcia sent back to the United States.
Let's bring in CNN's Katelyn Polantz, who has more on this story.
I mean, it's interesting timing, right? Because we just spoke to our Polo Sandoval there, who's talking about the case of Mohsen Mahdawi, the fact
that he was detained without due process as a college campus activist and is now getting released.
And then, of course, just now we're hearing that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is speaking to President Bukele of El Salvador.
Previously, we were told that this man was not going to be released. Now you have the Secretary of State and the President of El Salvador speaking.
Obviously, a lot of people are curious about what was discussed as it pertains to this man's release.
What more do you know?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Zain, not just what was discussed, but the question that hangs over this is, will
something be done here? That's the political and legal standoff in court for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, that man who had been living in Maryland.
He is from El Salvador, but the U.S. government said he could not be deported to that country, and yet, he mistakenly was by the Trump
administration.
The new reporting, the news that we are learning from multiple sources here at CNN is that Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State in the U.S. and the
President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, they were in touch to talk about him. And that there was an effort to work closely there.
And over the past seven days, there was a pause, where things went very silent, confidential, in the court proceedings for Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
That's where that standoff largely is, a judge saying, bring him back, facilitate his return.
And the U.S. saying no. His court case went silent. There was a pause. And a source told me that that was because a diplomatic resolution had been a
possibility.
Now though, this morning, there appears to be no resolution and that the judge, in his case, is saying, evidence-gathering is back on Abrego
Garcia's attorneys, can push for more answers again.
And there is also a report out in "The New York Times" this morning, Zain, saying that the U.S. asked or sent a diplomatic note to El Salvador, and
Bukele has not budged, continues to say, no, he's not coming back to the United States. We're not releasing him.
So the standoff continues, the court case continues. Some sort of movement behind the scenes for some possible diplomatic talks, maybe even a
diplomatic resolution that was taking place, Zain, but this still is a very hot story, an ongoing story, one with many developments every single day
and court proceedings that continue on even this week.
ASHER: All right, Katelyn Polantz live for us there. Thank you so much, appreciate it.
All right. Still to come, a manmade crisis in Gaza. Humanitarian officials say the enclave could descend into a full-blown famine, as Israel keeps up
its blockade on aid. We'll have the report after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:30:41]
ASHER: All right. After weeks of intense negotiations that at time turn bitter, Ukraine is expected to sign a deal in sharing its natural resources
with the United States. The Prime Minister says an agreement could be inked within the next 24 hours.
Once the details have been finalized, a deal would actually give Washington access to Kyiv's untapped mineral riches in exchange for U.S. investment.
The source says Ukraine is trying to reopen terms on a variety of points. CNN's Alex Marquardt joins us live now from Washington, D.C.
So, Alex, what more can you tell us, especially as it pertains to how this deal enables Ukraine to secure security guarantees?
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, that's -- it's -- that is at the core of this question because clearly this
mineral steel has been designed and pushed forward by the U.S., because the Trump administration feels the need to essentially get paid back for the
kind of support it has given Ukraine and would in theory continue to give Ukraine.
President Trump was pressed last night in an interview with ABC News about whether if these negotiations for a peace deal fall apart, whether he would
just drop military support for Ukraine and he wouldn't respond.
And, of course, at the same time, as you know, they also haven't committed to security assistance or security guarantees going forward, even if a
peace deal is signed.
So this minerals deal, as it's become known, is essentially designed to at least bring the Americans and the Ukrainians closer. This is clearly a play
by Kyiv to keep the Americans engaged and give them some kind of incentive.
But there does appear to be a last-minute hitch. We know that the economy minister, for Ukraine, is on her way to Washington, D.C., unclear whether
she's arrived.
And we had heard earlier from the prime minister that everything had all the main points, all the -- had been agreed to, and there's just a
technical translation that needed to be finished. But now we're hearing from another source who is familiar with these negotiations from our
colleague Kit Maher at the White House, that the Ukrainians are trying to reopen this source says a variety of points.
And according to this source, the sticking points are on the governance of this fund and making sure that all of the funds within this investment fund
are fully traceable. So it will be very interesting to see whether this can be ironed out. There have been fierce negotiations for the past two months.
[12:35:05]
Remember, a preliminary deal was supposed to be signed when President Zelenskyy came to Washington and then that shouting match ensued in the
Oval Office, everything fell apart, and nothing was signed. And it was supposed to be signed according to the Ukrainians within 24 hours. That
very much remains to be seen.
I think, Zain, the minerals deal is really shorthand for what this really is, which is an investment fund that will be co-owned by the Ukrainians, by
the Americans. Ukraine will contribute cash that it makes from its own mineral excavation and investments.
The Americans will commit security assistance or that -- what their commitments of security assistance will count towards their contribution to
this 50-50 fund.
But there are still a lot of remaining questions about how the fund will actually pay out and the actual deals and projects that it will undertake,
because there is still a lot of confusion about what Ukraine actually has in terms of those rare earth and critical minerals. Zain.
ASHER: All right. Alex Marquardt live for us there. Thank you so much.
We are searching for a morsel of food, and that is the plea from one Gaza resident as the enclave inches closer towards the famine as Israel total
blockade nears the third month. International organizations are accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inside her fly- infested tent, Yiman Rajab (ph) is doing her best to keep her six children alive.
Today's survival looks like this, sifting the half bag of flour she found on a garbage dumpster in Gaza City, after all of its bakeries shut down. It
is rancid, crawling with pests and clear signs of contamination.
But Rajab hopes she can salvage enough to make bread for her children.
My kids are vomiting after they eat it. It smells horrible, she says. I keep cleaning it and it won't get clean. But what else can I do? She asks.
What will I feed my children, if not this?
Rajab is one of hundreds of thousands of parents in Gaza struggling to feed their children, an entirely man-made crisis that is rapidly spiraling.
For nearly two months now, Israel has carried out a total siege of Gaza, refusing to allow a single truck of humanitarian aid or commercial goods
into the strip.
Israel says, it is trying to pressure Hamas into releasing the hostages, but it is civilians in Gaza who are paying the heaviest price.
There is no food, no nothing. Death is easier than this life, this elderly woman says.
This soup kitchen in central Gaza can now only provide one meal a day to those who are growing increasingly desperate.
This man says he has been standing in line for hours, hoping to feed his family.
These scenes an echo of last summer when hunger swept across Gaza, killing 52 Palestinians according to the Ministry of Health. The Biden
administration pushed Israel then to let in aid. There is no such public pressure from the White House now, which says it backs Israel's tactics.
Food warehouses are now barren.
YASMIN MAYDHANE, EMERGENCY COORDINATOR, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: We are in a position now where over 400,000 people that were receiving assistance from
our hot meal kitchens, which is the last lifeline for the population, is in itself grinding to a halt.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Cases of acute malnutrition are now spiking. United Nations said nearly 3,700 children were diagnosed in March, 85 percent more
than the previous month.
Five-year-old Osama Al-Arakab (ph) is among those most severely affected by Israel's blockade, which has exacerbated his pre-existing medical
conditions. He has lost eight pounds in the last month and now weighs just 20 pounds. His skin sticking to his bones, every movement is painful.
Because of this war, my son has reached this state, she explains. Now he can barely walk. I have to carry him everywhere.
Every day, his condition worsens. Every day, Israel prevents food from getting into Gaza, Osama's life becomes more at risk.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SIREN)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: That's the sound of a two-minute siren heard across Israel on Wednesday, the country marked its annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers
and victims of hostile attacks. People commemorated the victims of the October 7th attacks at the Nova Music Festival site in southern Israel.
And in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, family members and supporters, held photos of hostages still captive in Gaza.
[12:40:06]
All right. Time now for the exchange. We want to take a closer look at the situation in Israel and in Gaza. CNN political and global affairs analyst,
Barak Ravid, joins us live now.
He's also a politics and foreign policy reporter at "Axios" where he was formerly a Middle East correspondent. Barak, thank you so much for being
with us.
I want to talk about these negotiations in Cairo in terms of getting to a ceasefire deal, because we had initially heard from two Egyptian security
sources, according to Reuters, who essentially said that there had been this significant breakthrough in this deal.
And then we heard from the likes of yourself, who essentially said that wasn't the case. Can you just square this circle for us and just tell us
what we know about these negotiations?
BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes. So what we know is the Egyptians are trying, to their credit, they're trying very hard to
push those negotiations out of the stalemate they've been in for weeks now.
But as far as I hear from both Israeli officials and U.S. official, there's been no progress or at least no significant progress. Definitely not a
breakthrough.
And the reason is that there is a huge gap between Israel and Hamas on a fundamental issue. And this is whether the war -- whether a hostage deal
will lead to a -- will be comprehensive and will lead to the end of the war in Gaza. And this is something Prime Minister Netanyahu still opposes.
He doesn't want to end the war for now. On the other hand, Israel demands that any deal would lead to the disarmament of Hamas military wing. Hamas
refuses this condition. So those are very significant gaps.
ASHER: Yes. So it's unclear how with that kind of sort of daylight between both sides, how a deal is reached, at least in the short term.
Just in terms of some other breaking news that we were getting today. This idea of sectarian violence in and around Damascus and obviously in other
parts of Syria, and how that sectarian violence involved a lot of members of the Druze community versus government militia.
Just explain to us Israel's intervention here. Just walk us through what happened.
RAVID: So first, I think, you know, what we need to be aware of is that even though the Assad regime has collapsed and that there's a new
government in Damascus, this country is still extremely instable.
And one of the reasons for its instability is the domestic arguments and debates between the different sects in the Syrian society, which is
extremely diverse. And one of those groups is the Druze community that wants to keep some sort of autonomy to itself.
And the central government, which is mainly represents the Sunni population in Syria that, you know, wants to have control over the whole country.
And I think that those domestic disputes within the country are creating immense instability. In Israel, obviously, there is a big Druze community
that comes to the government and says, we feel that our families in Syria are under threat. And the Israelis today, I think for the first time,
conducted a drone attack against government forces in Syria, in order to deter them from attacking the Druze community.
ASHER: So I just want you to expand on that point because I think that it's important for our international audience to understand Israel's
relationship with the Druze community, because as you point out, there is a large Druze community in Israel. And a lot of them do serve in the
military.
In fact, during Remembrance Day in Israel, Katz and Netanyahu's statement actually mentioned the great contributions of the Druze community to
Israel's security. And the Druze who gave their life in defense of the state of Israel.
So just took us through the relationship, be more specific about the relationship between Israel and the Druze.
RAVID: Well, the Druze community in Israel, obviously, there are, you know, citizens of Israel. They have equal rights.
Even though in the last two or three years there have been a big rift in the relationship between the Druze community and Netanyahu's Likud Party,
especially because Netanyahu's party and Netanyahu's government passed the nationality law, which the Druze community saw as a law that is taking away
from them some of their rights.
And there was a big outcry, rightly so, by the way, because the Druze saw themselves as a community that serves, as a minority community that serves
in the IDF. And they saw this law as a stain on their commitment, their loyalty, and their contribution to the country.
[12:45:07]
And Netanyahu and his coalitions refused to amend this law to this day. And I think that what Netanyahu is doing now by saying, OK, I'm going to help
the Druze in Syria, because the Druze in Israel are requesting me to do it. Is also an attempt to say, well, this is my way, maybe to show that, you
know, my commitment to you.
ASHER: All right. Barak Ravid live for us there. Thank you so much.
We'll be right back with more after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Carbon capture technology removes around 230 million tons of carbon dioxide from the Earth's atmosphere each year. That is a drop in
the ocean compared to the 50 billion tons emitted over the same period around the world.
In the hearts of Kenya's Rift Valley, a tech startup is rewriting Africa's role in addressing that imbalance.
Octavia Carbon has built a cutting-edge facility, the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, which it says offers a cost-effective and scalable
means of capturing carbon dioxide directly from the Earth.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DUNCAN KARIUKI, FOUNDER, OCTAVIA CARBON: My name is Duncan Kariuki. I am the co-founder and chief product officer here at Octavia Carbon. And I lead
on everything to do with the engineering and project development.
Our goal really is to reverse climate change. That was a goal that came from, at least, personally for me, having grown up in a farming community
here in Kenya and seen the devastating impacts of climate change on people like my parents who are smallholder farmers. That made me want to work on
the greatest problem of our time.
We take CO2 from the atmosphere, sequester it deep underground, and from that, we sell carbon credits to corporate and individuals that have climate
commitments.
OKELO ONYANGO, SITE MANAGER, OCTAVIA CARBON: We have four machines that capture CO2, but then there's a whole process between capture and storing
it into like cylindrical tanks. So we are just optimizing those processes. What is the best way to capture the CO2? How do we get the highest purities
and even the flow rates of CO2 so that we can get the most output from the machines?
JACK KIMANI, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CLIMATE ACTION PLATFORM FOR AFRICA: Direct air capture is really relatively new industry. It just so happens
that Kenya and the East African Rift happens to have the right kind of geology in terms of carbon mineralization.
[12:50:15]
You're capturing carbon from ambient air. And then once you capture that, you're able to essentially dissolve it in water and be able to inject it
into porous basalt rocks.
ONYANGO: There are still some areas whereby we need to make some improvements but at least the periods of cities that we're getting, we are
at least seeing some good output from the machines.
KIMANI: Where we are at right now is that there is a number of companies that have been set up even in Kenya from a capture standpoint, but also a
storage standpoint that are operating and going to be demonstrating in the next few months, if not weeks the viability of direct capture within the
region.
Getting to the point of not just talking about it but being able to demonstrate that, hey, listen, it actually can be done and we have done it.
We have the likes of Octavia creating very advanced machines and equipment that allow that you're able to do this in a cost-effective way.
KARIUKI: The risk against time and climate change is waiting for no one and we've continued progression and development of our technology. We'll be
able to scale up and drive down the cost of the technology to meet the global climate ambitions, because innovation is what is going to get out of
this mess we are in as humanity.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: The world's largest solar telescope is shining new light on our understanding of the sun. A newly released image shows the surface of our
nearest star in unprecedented detail. The close-up reveals a cluster of continent-sized dark sunspots that are areas of intense magnetic activity.
Detailed images like this allow scientists to learn and predict potentially dangerous solar weather.
And finally, one of the greats of mixed martial arts is having his life told on the big screen. You may not recognize the actor who's stepping into
his shoes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably look into my eyes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How'd that happen?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, have you ever heard of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the UFC?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the bloody thing they're trying to ban.
[12:55:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy is the best he has ever seen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you hate each other when you fight?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has transformed into the role of Mark Kerr, the former American wrestler, for the upcoming movie, "The Smashing
Machine." The movie tells the story of Kerr's drug and -- drugs and relationship problems while rising in the mixed martial arts world.
"The Smashing Machine" will be released in October.
All right. That does it for this hour of ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher. Thank you so much for watching. "AMANPOUR" is up next. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:00:00]
END
