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One World with Zain Asher
CNN International: Officials: Israeli Security Cabinet Approves Military Expansion; Gaza Edges Closer To Famine Amid Israeli Aid Blockade; Israel Vows Retaliation After Houthi Attack. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired May 05, 2025 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAIN ASHER, HOST, "ONE WORLD": All right. Israel mobilizes thousands of reservists for an expanded offensive in Gaza.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, HOST, "ONE WORLD": One World starts right now.
As Israel prepares to put its new military plans into action in Gaza, will aid deliveries finally resume for the battled enclave?
ASHER: Plus, President Trump says, I don't know, when asked whether he needs to uphold the U.S. Constitution, just months after taking an oath to
do just that.
GOLODRYGA: And coming soon to a theater near you, the U.S. trade war, as Trump announces tariffs on foreign films.
Hello, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. You are watching One World.
As Gaza teeters on the edge of famine, Israel begins a controversial new phase in its war there.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. Israel's security cabinet voted Sunday to gradually scale up its military operations in Gaza. An Israeli official describes the plan
as, quote, "The conquest of territory and staying there." Far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich went further, saying that an annexation of Gaza
is not off the table, even if Hamas releases all the hostages. Now, the cabinet also discussed allowing entry of aid to Gaza under a new framework.
ASHER: An Israeli blockade has prevented aid from entering the enclave for two months and counting. Israel says it's trying to pressure Hamas to
release the hostages. Some international organizations are accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now from Jerusalem. And Jeremy, there have been reporting that this call up for reservists for a
much larger expansion into Gaza was imminent. We're also, though, hearing from the Prime Minister saying there may be a window of pause, this
allowing for President Trump and his travel to the Middle East to see if there is any movement on a deal between Israel and Hamas over the hostages.
What more are we learning?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's right. The Israeli security cabinet in voting to authorize this expansion of the
Israeli military's ground operations in Gaza will result in the mobilizing of tens of thousands of reservists and an expansion of military activity
that could include the occupation of Gazan territory for months, if not years, to come. But, it is not going into place immediately.
This will be a gradual expansion, and that is exactly what the Israeli Prime Minister seemed to be referring to, effectively, that he will be
giving some space still, both on the one hand, for the Israeli military to prepare for what will be a significant expansion of military activity,
calling up those reservists will take some time, but they also say that it is in order to leave some more space and time for a deal to potentially be
worked out with Hamas, and that's because the Israeli government has consistently tried to use both actual military action and the threat of
military action to pressure Hamas into a new ceasefire deal that would be more favorable to Israel's terms. It's not clear whether or not that can be
achieved, but certainly that is exactly what we are seeing.
It's also important to note, though, that so much of the Israeli public disagrees with this plan being put forward by the Israeli government,
notably the families of the hostages, and we saw an angry statement released today by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which says that
this latest plan by the Israeli government is, quote, "giving up on the hostages and Israel's security and national resilience", effectively
arguing that the Israeli government has now made clear that they are favoring the defeat of Hamas military activity in Gaza, the potential long-
term occupation of the Gaza strip over the release of the hostages, something that the Israeli Prime Minister himself indicated last week when
he said that defeating Israel's enemies is the, quote, "supreme goal of the Israeli government", placing it above even the release of the hostages.
And also important to note, the majority of the Israeli public wants to see a deal to end the war and to release all of the hostages over the
continuation and the expansion of the war that we are now about to witness.
ASHER: And just in terms of the situation on the ground in Gaza, Gaza has been under this two-month blockade just in terms of humanitarian access to
the Gaza Strip, and in essence, it is to basically put as much pressure on Hamas as possible, just in terms of releasing more hostages and entering
into these negotiations with a bit more sort of coercion and pressure. Just talk to us about the ramification, just in terms of ordinary Palestinians
who are suffering on the ground.
DIAMOND: Well, we are watching, as every single day, Gaza is getting closer and closer to all-out famine. I mean, I was just watching footage today
from one of these community kitchens in the Gaza Strip that is distributing what for so many Gazans will be their only meal of the day, and you can see
the agony and the desperation that is growing with each passing day in the eyes of the women, children and men who are reaching out for that support.
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90 percent plus of the Gaza Strip is at catastrophic levels of food insecurity currently, and humanitarian officials have warned that it could
be a matter of days before Gaza runs out of food for most of the population there. The Israeli government believes that there are still several more
weeks of food left in Gaza, and we know now that the Israeli government and the United States are working on a new mechanism to get aid into Gaza, but
very much on Israel's terms, perhaps even in a way that could facilitate the Israeli military's operations in Gaza by driving the population towards
the areas where Israel wants to push them and to try and split off Hamas from the civilian population in Gaza.
And that effectively means using humanitarian aid as a lure or a means of encouraging the forced displacement of Palestinians, and that seems to be
the reason why we have now heard from the major humanitarian organizations facilitating aid in Gaza, including several UN agencies, saying,
effectively, that they won't participate in this plan or any plan that is one-sided, that isn't neutral, and that doesn't allow the free flow of
humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
They also have noted that getting aid in through these humanitarian organizations has been an effective means of getting aid to the people of
Gaza who need it the most, and they are calling on Israel to open all of those crossings, which, again, have been closed now for more than two
months at this point, leading to really catastrophic levels of hunger that are rapidly approaching in Gaza.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. And according to reporting from a senior security official in Israel, the supply of humanitarian aid will be restored to the Gaza
Strip only after the start of the expanded operation there as well.
Jeremy diamond, thank you so much.
Well, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed more strikes on Yemen's Houthi rebels after a missile targeted Ben Gurion Airport in Tel
Aviv on Sunday, briefly halting flights.
ASHER: Yeah. The Iran-backed group claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it a consequence of Israel's actions in Gaza, and warning airlines
to avoid Israeli airspace. Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel is coordinating with the U.S., adding that it will not be a, quote, "One and
done", and there will be hits.
Let's bring in Jonathan Conricus, former IDF spokesperson, Senior Fellow at the foundation for Defense of Democracies, and co-founder of Bottomline
Media. He joins us live now from Los Angeles. Jonathan, good to see you.
So, just in terms of this sort of surprise attack that we saw over the weekend with the Houthi rebels targeting Ben Gurion Airport, I mean, it's
not just the fact that this missile was not intercepted. It's really just sort of shows you perhaps how vulnerable Israel could be. I mean, the
Houthis tenacious. They are aggressive. They have vowed that they're not going to stop in terms of these attacks until the war in Gaza is over. Walk
us through what is the right -- what should be the right response by Israel here.
JONATHAN CONRICUS, FORMER IDF SPOKESPERSON: Yes. Hi. Thank you for having me back. As always, a pleasure, even though we're discussing war in the
Middle East.
I think we have to explain the situation with regards to the Houthis in the following ways. There is, in my mind, two options, two approaches that
Israel can take when it comes to the Houthis. The Houthis, as you said very correctly, they are entrenched. They are not impressed, neither by 10 years
of Saudi strikes or by a year of American and UK operations. And the direct approach, the one that addresses the Houthis directly, isn't really a
successful one so far. And for Israel really to do something meaningful and to be able to defend itself more effectively, then I think what Israel
would have to do, military speaking, either a massive, sustained bombing campaign of Houthi targets or boots on the ground.
And I think that those two options aren't really in the book currently, for various reasons of cost effectiveness and international issues, which takes
me to the other option, which is -- which I call the indirect approach. And I think that we're getting closer to that, and the insinuations and the
direct reference made by Prime Minister Netanyahu that he again made the link, just like President Trump did a few months ago, between the Houthis
and Iran, I think that is paving the way for Israel to say, OK, we're not able to stop the Houthis militarily from attacking Israel indiscriminately
and attacking our civilian sides and inflicting economic damage. So, what we will do is go to the root cause and those that are supplying the weapons
and the funding and the political directive for the Houthis, and that is the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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And since the Houthis have been inflicting economic damage on Israel by striking our International Airport, then that creates a balance or an
opening for Israel to do the same thing in Iran, and I think that indirect approach is now what is being considered in Israeli circles.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and President Trump condemning that attack at Ben Gurion Airport yesterday as well. And notable that Prime Minister Netanyahu
retweeted a post from President Trump, as you mentioned, back in March, very hawkish against the Houthis, but namely their benefactors, the
supporters of all their weaponry, and that obviously being Iran.
Can I ask you, though, Jonathan, about this expanded operation that's being planned in Gaza right now? There are reports that there'd be perhaps a
window of time to allow for President Trump to engage on his trip to the region and his meeting in Saudi Arabia, also for continued pressure and
efforts for talks and negotiations with Hamas regarding the hostages. I see you wearing a hostage pin there now. You are a civilian, no longer in
government service.
But, if you were still a spokesperson for the IDF, how do you explain to the Israeli public, we see that time and time again, the polls say that the
top issue for them is the return of the hostages, how do you explain to the Israeli public that the Prime Minister, as he said so bluntly, that the
supreme goal right now is defeating Hamas, even if that means prioritizing that over the return of the hostages?
CONRICUS: Yeah. As you say, correctly, you note, I'm wearing this pin, and I have been wearing this pin ever since I took off my uniform in a year and
a half, almost a year and a half ago. I feel their pain, and I want all of our hostages to be freed. They should be freed by Hamas. It is 59 people,
probably 24 of them are alive, and they're held by Hamas, and not enough pressure is put on Hamas.
I think that it's a bit -- we're a bit detached from reality. If we look into books of how war is managed, then the basic thing that you want to do,
when you fight a war, whether you started it or you didn't, as Israel, we didn't start this war, but when it is -- you're forced to fight a war, the
number one objective is to win the war and to defeat the enemy, and in our case, that isn't different. Our objective, the Israeli objective, as a
country that has been attacked on several fronts, but specifically from Gaza, is to defeat the enemy, so to make sure that there won't be future
threats to all of Israel.
Now, I've been saying truthfully for many months that I do not think, and I do not believe, professionally, that we can have these both two things. We
cannot get rid of Hamas and get all of our live hostages back. I think that Hamas, being the murderous and cowardly terrorists that they are, they
won't allow the return of Israeli hostages as we are advancing and as Israel will defeat the military.
And now, finally, the Israeli Prime Minister, and I think it's high time that he has said so in his own voice, is saying it clearly that there is a
hierarchy of goals, and that the supreme goal, just like in any other war, is first and foremost, to defeat the enemy so that we can move on and
rebuild the south, allow people to go back home and also allow the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. There is a situation there that we need
to attend to. And I think that what the IDF is doing is trying to walk a very thin and balanced line, on one hand, operating in order to get the
hostages back, but then on the other hand, also communicating very clearly to decision makers that the options and the ability of the IDF to get live
hostages back is limited, and decision makers have to be aware of it.
Now, I hope that what's going to happen now is that Hamas will be deterred by the fact that Israel is building this offensive and that they will hand
over the hostages, surrender and give up their weapons, so that we can start a new stage here. What Jeremy spoke about, humanitarian aid, etc.,
you have to understand that humanitarian aid is how Hamas is still in control of Gaza. It isn't distributed and controlled by so-called
humanitarian organizations. This is aid that Hamas and Hamas thugs on the ground are controlling, and they're preventing it from getting to civilians
and their conditioning aid to people in loyalty to Hamas, and we see this all over the Gaza Strip.
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And the moment that the IDF will go in and push Hamas out and start distributing food directly or indirectly through international
organizations, that will be the time that, for the first time, there will be a threat to the rule of Hamas over the Gaza Strip, and then what I think
we will see is a significant spike in fighting and in Hamas activity, because then they will have a real incentive to fight. Currently, they're
laying low. They're hiding in their tunnels, and they're not engaging IDF on the ground. But, when that happens, when Israel will start to actually
administer aid, that will be a threat to Hamas, and then I think we will see a significant rise in activity.
ASHER: Jonathan, what happens, though, in the meantime? I mean, some of the images that -- we're actually seeing images -- I know you can't see the
screen, but we're seeing images of people just lining up to get food. And as Jeremy pointed out, this could literally be the only thing that they eat
in a single day, and I'm sure, Jonathan, that these images pain you, especially when it comes to seeing children suffering. Very few people can
take seeing children suffer. I know that I certainly can't. So, when you think about what happens next, I mean, obviously you talk about, well, when
Israel gets in there, they're going to distribute the aid, etc., but in the meantime, with this two-month blockade on Gaza, we know that civilians are
suffering, what is the solution on that front, Jonathan?
CONRICUS: The solution is to get rid of Hamas, really, and civilian suffering is clear. That's unfortunately the situation in war.
ASHER: But, in the meantime --
CONRICUS: And I think --
ASHER: -- but, obviously, it takes a while -- Jonathan, it takes a while to get rid of Hamas, right? This war has been going on for a very long time.
We're coming up to almost two years. I mean, in addition, aside from getting rid of Hamas, because we know that that can take a long time, what
happens in the interim to civilians who are suffering on the ground?
CONRICUS: Well, as you said very correctly before, what's going on is negotiations. Israel wants its hostages back, and it wants to defeat Hamas,
and it is using the various tools at its disposal gradually in order to apply pressure. You said it very correctly, and what you're seeing is
pressure applied on Hamas, and in order to force Hamas to hand over hostages and to surrender in the war. That's exactly what's going on. And
while I definitely feel for people, civilians who are caught in the middle, I feel much more for Israel and I feel for the hostage families, and I feel
for the future of my country, which I know will be unsafe if Hamas stays in power.
So, what I think needs to happen is for there to be significant pressure on Hamas to surrender, to beat this -- to be disarmed from its weapons, to
hand over the hostages, and then a new day can begin in Gaza. It is up to Egypt to help that happen. It is up to Egypt to allow people to flee this
war zone. I know that you've been covering this for a year and a half and even before that. But, have we ever thought about the fact that the Gazans
are the only civilians in the world, in the history of warfare, that have been prevented from leaving a battle space?
They are the only civilians who have been kept in very cruelly by the international community, and in this case, specifically by Egypt. They've
been prevented from leaving. I can think of no other conflict in the world where civilians have been prevented from leaving a battle space, and I
think that, in itself, is really basically wrong here. People should be allowed to leave, and they should be allowed to have a temporary refuge
somewhere else, just like the situation in Syria and in other battle zones in Africa and what happened in Iraq and Syria before that. When there is
fighting, people are allowed to leave.
It is sad, and I think extremely cruel and also hypocritical that Palestinians are prevented from leaving the battle space, and they're
forced to stay under the very cruel and tyrannical regime of Hamas. And as you say, they have a very difficult conditions under the responsibility of
Hamas, and because they are not being allowed to leave and flee and evacuate by Egypt.
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ASHER: All right. Donald Trump often makes controversial statements when he sits down for interviews, and what he said to NBC's "Meet the Press" this
past weekend is certainly raising some eyebrows.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. It was a lengthy interview. He was asked multiple hot button issues. When he was asked whether he would uphold the Constitution,
President Trump said, I don't know. He was being asked about his deportation efforts and his complaints of the people who are deported are
not being given their day in court. When pressed on the "I don't know" constitutional response, the President did say that his administration
would follow instructions given by the Supreme Court.
Let's get more on this from CNN Senior Political White House producer Betsy Klein. And Betsy, this is familiar language from the President when it
comes to these back and forth on whether or not he would uphold the Constitution on some of these more controversial policies. He ultimately
ends up saying that, listen, I don't know much about this. It's up to my lawyers. They're very smart. They know what they're doing. What more are we
hearing from the White House today in following up from the interview?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Yeah, controversial, certainly, but familiar. We've seen the President really transform and re-
imagine the use of executive authority in his first few months in office, and we're watching how that is playing out on a number of fronts, including
this aggressive crackdown on illegal immigrants and criminals. The President pressed repeatedly by NBC News in that interview that aired on
Sunday on whether he would uphold the Constitution, the President said he does not know, deferring all questions to his lawyers and to the courts.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTEN WELKER, HOST, NBC NEWS: Don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as President?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICASHER: I don't know. I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and
they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KLEIN: We should note that the President, of course, took an oath to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, as he
took the oath of office just over 100 days ago. The Supreme Court, of course, has also ruled that due priceless rights that are outlined in the
Fifth Amendment are guaranteed to everyone, even undocumented immigrants. And all of this comes as federal courts have moved to halt many of the
administration's moves on deportation. There are legal challenges over whether the President has authority to crack down the way he has been and
whether they were given due process.
Of course, I'm talking about the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, that Maryland man who the administration acknowledges was mistakenly deported,
as well as other efforts to crack down on undocumented immigrants, efforts to target foreign students, and those crossing the southern border
illegally, including a recent case of a pregnant woman who crossed the border illegally and was apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border
protections.
Now, all of these court challenges, of course, a mounting source of frustration for President Trump, and has prompted swift criticism from some
of his political opponents, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who just moments ago on CNN called the President's remarks on the Constitution,
quote, "shocking", Zain and Bianna.
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GOLODRYGA: All right. Senior White House producer Betsy Klein, thank you so much.
ASHER: Thank you, Betsy.
All right. The Trump administration appears one step closer to funneling migrants to Rwanda, whether or not they're actually from there. The East
African nation's Foreign Minister says that Rwanda is in early talks with the U.S. to take in deported immigrants. It's all part of Trump's sweeping
illegal immigration crackdown. Britain actually tried this a few years back, but was met with fierce pushback, in part because of criticism around
Rwanda's human rights record. There was also a lot of legal issues as well.
CNN's Larry Madowo joins us live now from Nairobi. So, Britain didn't quite pull it off successfully because of a lot of legal issues and also a lot of
criticism in London. But, just in terms of the Americans, now they're having a go. What do we know about this deal? Obviously, Rwanda is going to
be compensated financially for this. What do we know about the terms of this agreement?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Zain. It's still early days, but Rwanda now confirming that it is ready to take in the despicable human
beings that the United States is removing from the country. That's what the Trump administration calls these undocumented migrants that have been sent
to places like El Salvador and Panama. And Rwanda's foreign minister said they're still in early talks. So, if this pans out, it will not be the
first time that Rwanda has done something like this. It's called migrant offshoring, and has a lot of criticism in the human rights space.
In the case of the UK deal, which we covered about two years ago, we went to Kigali and saw the facilities at the hostel where these migrants will be
kept. Rwanda will be paid about half a million dollars over five years, and another 20,000 pounds for every successful migrant that was sent to Rwanda.
That eventually didn't happen. And Prime Minister Keir Starmer canceled that when he came into power. But, it looks like this time the Americans
are serious about sending people overseas, and Rwanda is ready to take them in. Listen to the foreign minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLIVIER NDUHUNGIREHE, RWANDAN FOREIGN MINISTER (Interpreted): We are in talks with USA. Even before we were in talks with the UK, it's not a new
thing for us. And even apart from the UK, we received migrants who had been trapped in Libya. I would say that's the spirit we are in of giving chance
to migrants who are in trouble across the world. So, we are in talks with the USA. It's not finalized yet for us to say this is how it will turn out,
but talks are taking place, and once they are concluded, we'll inform you. It is in its early stages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO: Why would the U.S. send undocumented migrants to Rwanda, thousands of kilometers away? It's a long way to go, but that is the point, because
as Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, they're asking countries to take the despicable human beings as a favor to
the U.S., and he also added that they want to send them as far as possible from the U.S., because they can't come back over the border.
So, this is why Rwanda is an attractive proposition, and Rwanda needs the United States to help in this conflict it has the in the eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo, where the DRC accuses it of arming the M23 rebels there, and the U.S. has made some efforts to mediate there. They signed a
declaration of principles recently. So, you can see why this is a quid pro quo for Rwanda and the U.S. And if it does pan out, this will be quite an
interesting one, and suddenly the furthest that undocumented migrants have been sent for the U.S. Zain, Bianna.
ASHER: Yeah. Those comments by Secretary of State Marco Rubio really did raise a lot of eyebrows last week when he talked about sending America's
most despicable human beings to other countries and essentially saying, hey, can you do us a favor by taking them off our hands for us? Larry
Madowo live for us there. Thank you. Appreciate it.
All right. Donald Trump says he is planning to extend his trade war to the world of movies.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. In a social media post published Sunday, the President said he wants to impose a 100 percent tariff on all foreign-made films.
Now, it claimed the American movie industry is dying and being undercut by overseas tax incentives. He added that the move is necessary to bring film
production back to the United States.
ASHER: But, it's not all clear how such a tariff would be imposed, as films are considered intellectual property, not goods. Some critics point out
that this policy could also backfire by increasing production costs for Hollywood Studios.
Let's bring in CNN Reporter Lisa Respers France, joining us live now from Atlanta. I mean, Lisa, just help us understand this one, because obviously,
you have movies that are partially filmed abroad because that's what the story line warrants. You might -- let's say you're making a movie about the
civil war that took place in 1960s, Nigeria. Are you now going to have to film that out of Atlanta?
LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN REPORTER: Good morning. That's an excellent point, by the way. This actually raises more questions, of course, right? You just
raised a very valid one, like, what it constitutes an American movie? Is it the director? Is that the actors?
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Is it the writing? Is it where it's placed? So, the President, in his posting on Sunday, really has made it seem like Hollywood is in dire
straits right now, right? So, we know, of course, that Hollywood has been through a few things. There was a writers and actors strike. Of course,
it's still trying to come back from the pandemic.
But, one of the things that is important to Hollywood, of course, is how much money it makes on these movies. And in order to make the most money,
you want to keep production costs as low as possible. And that's why a lot of these films are being filmed overseas, because there are incentives, as
the President pointed out, for people to come over there, and they can have productions much more cheaper. Filming in like Southern California is way
more expensive than it is filming in Canada or the UK or someplace like that, where they are offering tax breaks and different incentives to get
people to come over.
But, we have a little bit of what the President had to say. He made it sound like Hollywood is about to collapse, if he does not have these
tariffs imparted and have money be brought back into the United States. He says, basically he wants movies to be made in America again. So, it sounds
like he wants to make Hollywood great again. And a lot of people argue that Hollywood is not doing badly, and that you might actually do more damage
than good with something like this, because it could push production costs, and then that means fewer movies would be able to get made. So, it's going
to be -- it's a bit of a head scratcher.
And we also know that, a couple of weeks ago, China said that they're looking to potentially reduce, moderately reduce the amount of American
films that they show over there in response to the trade war, and that would also be a huge hit for Hollywood, because movies in Asia, they bring
in a lot of money. Think about like Marvel movies and things like that. They attract a really big audience in Asia. And so, if China is saying, Oh,
well, we're going to cut down on the amount of movies that we show, American movies that we show in response to tariffs like this, then imagine
100 percent tariff on foreign movies, that might actually push things even worse, into an either worse predicament than what the President claims is
happening right now. So --
GOLODRYGA: Yeah.
FRANCE: -- we got to wait and see.
GOLODRYGA: And films are described as intellectual property. They are actually services at the U.S. exports, and that doesn't seem to be factored
into any of the analysis done in these trade wars thus far.
Lisa, if I were to try to decipher the point the President was making in that post, it would be perhaps that they're in there because there had been
controversy looming over the last several years about films that are set in the United States and filmed elsewhere. So, as opposed to, like the
Nigerian Civil War, which would be filmed in Nigeria --
FRANCE: I like my example, by the way.
GOLODRYGA: -- a film that would be -- exactly, as opposed to home, right, a film that would be set in the United States actually being filmed in
Canada, because it is cheaper to film there than the United States. If that is what he is talking about, this has been an issue looming for the last
several years, just the cost of production, especially in expensive states like California and New York. What would the reaction be, if that is what
he is implying?
FRANCE: I think it's an excellent point, and absolutely that is what it sounds like he is implying. But, the issue is, with the studios, again, in
order to have a film be successful, there are so many different variables, and one of the things that they can control, like you cannot control if a
movie is going to be beloved or not, you cannot control if the audience is going to flock into theaters to see it or not, but you can control how much
you pay when it comes to production. So, they feel like this is a business decision that perhaps the President doesn't grasp, but just like it seems
like he is not grasping some of the other complaints about some of the other tariffs that they need to keep these costs low to be able to continue
to make the movies, period, because movies are very, very expensive to make.
We see a lot of commentary. When a film comes out, if it straight out of the gate doesn't make a ton of money, people are all of a sudden saying,
well, it costs X amount to make. When is it going to make that money back? So, they -- the movie studios -- and also, another question is, is this
going to be just regular movie studios, but also like Netflix and streaming services and things like that? Are they also going to face these tariffs?
So, again, there are so many questions here where we know what the President has said, but we seem to be a little short on the details and
exactly how this is going to work. Is it just going to be movies? There are tons of TV shows that are also filmed outside the country. So, I have a lot
more questions than I have answers for you, unfortunately, ladies.
GOLODRYGA: And who knows that the President had his way filming in Canada and Greenland would be considered part of the United States?
FRANCE: Right.
[11:35:00]
GOLODRYGA: So --
FRANCE: It's a good one.
ASHER: It's a good one.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Lisa Respers France, thank you so much.
FRANCE: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: We'll be right back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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: The Vatican says one of Pope Francis' popemobiles is being transformed into a mobile health care unit for children and is being sent
to Gaza. The pontiff had requested the move to help respond to the humanitarian situation in Gaza. It was one of his final wishes before his
death.
GOLODRYGA: Police in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, say they arrested two people, including a teenager who had planned an attack on LGBTQ+ fans at the Lady
Gaga concert on Sunday. Investigators spoiled their plan to use improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails. A third person was charged for allegedly
planning to kill a child at the concert as part of a satanic ritual.
ASHER: U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants to put criminals back into Alcatraz, the prison hasn't been operational for more than 60 years. It
once held some of the most dangerous criminals in America, including Al Capone and George "Machine Gun" Kelly. The former prison on an island off
of San Francisco is now a major tourist destination.
GOLODRYGA: Skype is shutting down today. Remember that company?
ASHER: Yeah.
GOLODRYGA: This comes 14 years after Microsoft bought the internet-based video service for $8.5 billion. Skype launched in 2003 and was a dominant
way of making free international phone calls in the days before Zoom and WhatsApp.
Well, we're going to return now to one of our top stories, President Trump's controversial interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" over the
weekend.
ASHER: Yeah. During that interview, Trump was asked whether he has a responsibility to uphold the U.S. Constitution. His response, I don't know.
That comment came during a discussion about Trump's efforts to deport migrants without granting them due process in the courts.
[11:40:00]
GOLODRYGA: During the interview, Trump also said that he is confident the U.S. will avoid a recession. He said he is glad the U.S. has essentially
cut off trade with China, and added that he does not plan to defy the Constitution by running for a third term in 2028.
Joining us now for more on how Trump's first few months have gone is Patrick McHenry. He was a leading Republican member of Congress and briefly
served as temporary Speaker of the House in between Kevin McCarthy and Speaker Johnson. McHenry left Congress earlier this year after serving for
20 years.
Patrick, great to have you on. Unfortunately, we don't have an hour's worth of time to dissect every single comment the President made over the weekend
on NBC. But, as it relates to the economy, he really doubled down in rejecting concerns that his tariff policies would lead to a spike in
prices. He said, no, I don't think the tariffs will be great for us. I think -- actually, I think they'll be good for us because they'll make us
rich. I don't think a beautiful girl that's 11-years-old needs to have 30 dolls. I think they need three dolls. They don't need to have 250 pencils.
They can have five. Three dolls, five pencils, what do you make of this messaging? And I ask you, because Marc Short this morning described it as
the President's own let them eat cake moment. Is that how it's widely interpreted among fellow Republicans?
PATRICK MCHENRY, FORMER U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: Well, I think that's a bit too fiery to call it a let's eat cake moment. I don't think it's the best
economic messaging, though. Let's just be clear about that.
What the President is trying to do is to have a global reset with the trading arrangement with China. Everything else is secondary to that. And
what we see is other countries benefiting from our fight with China economically and trying to use our trade war to their economic benefit.
Now, -- so, it's a pretty complex thing for President Trump to land a new tariff regime with every country on the globe that does international
trade. I think what the President should be saying is that this stuff will take time. It took us 30 years to dig this hole with China economically,
and it's going to take more than a month for us to resolve it. But, to say, let's have fewer dolls is sort of a secondary thing that doesn't make much
sense in this moment.
ASHER: Patrick, during the interview, Trump repeatedly, sort of -- he has, repeatedly in the past, obviously floated the idea of staying for a third
term. In the interview, though, he dismissed it, saying that obviously you're not allowed to run for three presidential terms in this country.
But, he did say this, and this is where he sort of plants the seed and leaves the door open. He says, so many people want me to do it. I've never
had requests so strong as that. And obviously there are the sort of Trump 2028 sort of apparel floating around. Just in terms of your concerns, I
mean, obviously the 22nd amendment to the Constitution bars anyone from running for three terms. But, are you fearful that Donald Trump might
attempt, might attempt, might look into the possibility still of running for a third term here?
MCHENRY: No, and I'll tell you why. This is a lot about the noise around whether or not the President is in a strong position politically. And what
he is saying here is that, yes, people want him to stick around. They like his leadership. He is popular. That's what he is saying. And the way to
make it provocative is to put it into some of these bigger constitutional questions. And so, this is about making sure that the President is flooding
the zone on every conversation we're having in every news cycle, no matter how big, no matter how small, and this is just one more example of that.
GOLODRYGA: If I could go back to the economy, because this is the week that ports on the West Coast could really see a start of fewer goods coming into
the United States, and that obviously will have widespread implications for the U.S. economy as a whole. We had reported how the President himself
seemed to take a step back after he was after he was warned by the CEOs of major U.S. companies like Home Depot, Walmart and Target, suggesting that
in a few weeks' time, they could see empty store shelves. Over the weekend, when asked about the economy and whether it was already the Trump economy,
he said, sometimes, maybe, but that's only in defense of good economic news. On bad news, it's still the Biden economy.
If we start to see empty store shelves, as these CEOs had warned, is that where you would call, where Republicans would call this the Trump economy?
[11:45:00]
MCHENRY: I would say it's not good. Let's just be clear. The President's popularity is based off of his economic strength -- the economic strength
of the United States. That is how President Trump has derived his political power. That's how he came back for a second term. That's how he has
dominated the whole debate of every news cycle, is having that economic strength and whole pocketbooks.
To say that we're in a moment of austerity is not a winning message. It is not one previous elections unlikely to win the next election, or the next
couple of elections. To get a reset by which Americans benefit economically, that is a winning message. And to say, give me time to go
land these big deals so that we can have a better trading arrangement, so we can have greater prosperity for all Americans, that's a winning message.
But, to just get into the negative of this, or to bubble about what is Biden's fault and what is now Republican leadership's problem, I think is
quibbling on the edges. This summer is really about tariffs and whether or not House and Senate Republicans can pass a tax bill. Those are the two
major dominant economic issues emanating out of Washington. Everything else is noise.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and you've said the tax bill, that deadline is this month. If they don't present something soon, then that could also set the tone, a
bad tone at that, for the summer months to come.
Former U.S. Congressman Patrick McHenry, thank you so much.
ASHER: Thank you.
MCHENRY: Great to be with you, Bianna. Thanks, Zain.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Well, the UK is honoring the heroes of World War II, the veterans.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
GOLODRYGA: Four days of tributes commemorate the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. We'll take you there, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. European countries are ramping up arms reduction as Russia's war on Ukraine drags on and U.S. support wades (ph).
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Ben Wedeman shows what it's like working at an arms factory in Italy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The time has come for Europe to beat plowshares into swords.
[11:50:00]
Workers are putting the final touches on combat vehicles at this Leonardo factory in northern Italy. Leonardo is Europe's second largest defense
company. The days when the continent looked to Uncle Sam for protection are over, says CEO Roberto Cingolani.
ROBERTO CINGOLANI, CEO, LEONARDO: After the invasion of Russia in Ukraine, we realized that peace must be defended, peace as a cost, and that was
quite a wake-up call. On top of that, there was a change of policy in U.S. very recently that has made the NATO umbrella to say less perceivable.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Leonardo is ramping up production of all its systems, from tanks and armored personnel carriers to ammunition, naval guns, drones
and aircraft.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Production is increasing and this system is at the state-of-the art.
WEDEMAN (on camera): Leonardo has begun a joint venture with Germany's Rheinmetall, a major arms manufacturer, to co-produce the next generation
of main battle tank, the emphasis, a weapon with a made in Europe label.
WEDEMAN (on camera): The European Commission came out with an initiative called Rearm Europe, a strategic defense initiative that would involve
spending as much as 800 billion euro, almost $900 billion, to strengthen Europe's defense capabilities. However, they ended up changing that to
Readiness 2030, after objections by some members of the European Commission.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): The term rearm was seen as too alarmist. For decades, the bond between the U.S. and Europe was a given, but all that has changed
under the new Trump administration.
TRUMP: I think the European Union has been absolutely terrible to us on trade, terrible.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): President Trump is waging a trade war against friend and foe alike. Old alliances no longer seem solid, says defense analyst
Gregory Alegi.
GREGORY ALEGI, PROFESSOR, LUISS UNIVERSITY: The cornerstone of the U.S.- European relationship has always been Article 5 of NATO, which is basically a promise that all the allies will intervene to support each other in case
any one of them is attacked, and the Trump administration has been calling that into question. If that fundamental promise no longer holds, well, it's
like an open marriage. You don't know how long it's going to last.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): In such uncertain times, perhaps the best tactic is to prepare and arm oneself or the worst.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, La Spezia, northern Italy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: Sacrifice, service and legacy, all three are being honored as Britain commemorates the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
GOLODRYGA: It celebrates the veterans who made it all possible. The official surrender of Nazi Germany to allied forces took place on May 8th,
1945, ending World War II, which claimed tens of millions of lives
ASHER: Yeah. Earlier, under cloudy skies, the British monarch and other members of the royal family turned out, along with the crowds for the first
four days of tributes across the UK.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
ASHER: (Inaudible) past roaring through London.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
GOLODRYGA: Ukrainian soldiers also took part of the military parade in central London just a bit earlier, a poignant reminder that another war is
currently raging on the European continent. Important moment to reflect on.
Well, stay with us. We'll have more One World after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
