Return to Transcripts main page
One World with Zain Asher
Trump Visits Capitol Hill To Push For His Legislative Agenda; Trump Presses Republicans To Back His Sweeping Policy Agenda; RFK, Jr. Blasts "Bloated" WHO, Calls For New Health Agency; Israel Pushes Ahead With New Ground Offensive; Rubio Testifies In Front Of Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Who Is Watching For Natural Disasters Amid Trump's Massive Cuts. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired May 20, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:42]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. It is being against beautiful and it is a top sell on Capitol Hill.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: The second hour of "ONE WORLD" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think the Republican Party has ever been so unified. There is a revolution going on, a positive
one in our country and I love it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Donald Trump puts the Republican standing in the way of his spending bill on notice.
ASHER: Plus, overwhelmed and unprepared. Disaster team sound the alarm just days before the start of hurricane season.
And later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't see anybody. There is no six feet apart. You don't go near anybody. We wear a mask anywhere and everywhere.
ALEX LANDRON, DAD OF IMMUNOCOMPROMISED BABY: Whatever we all have the front door, we have to put a mask on.
MARILYN LANDRON, MOM OF IMMUNOCOMPROMISED BABY: Yes, like even if we're going to the trash, we put a mask on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: It's been almost nine months since they left their house. Why for them going outside is a matter of life and death.
ASHER: Live from New York, I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: and I'm Bianna Golodryga. You are watching the second hour of "ONE WORLD."
A major battle is playing out behind closed doors on Capitol Hill right now.
ASHER: Yes. It's not between opposing parties, but the deeply divided Republican lawmakers who are in the House. And the U.S. president's entire
legislative agenda hangs in the balance.
It's not yet clear if Donald Trump was able to sway any of them during a visit earlier meant to bring both sides together, but their president
appeared optimistic when he came out of the meeting a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think we have unbelievable unity. I think we're going to get everything we want and I think we're going to have a great victory.
I think it was a really great -- that was a meeting of love. Let me tell you, that was love in that room. There was no shouting. I think it was a
meeting of love.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: That high-profile visit is in sharp contrast to a key vote on the controversial bill that's set to take place at 1:00 A.M. on Wednesday and
what Democrats are calling the dead of the night.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. CNN's Alayna Treene joins us now live at the White House. Can't overstate the significance of the spending bill for President Trump.
It is the centerpiece of his legislative agenda.
And, Alayna, we're hearing from some of those holdouts who have said that the president did a good job in their meeting but still will not commit to
voting in favor of this bill.
Just walk us through where things stand right now.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. Look, I mean there's no question despite the president repeatedly both going in to that meeting
this morning and then also coming out of it. He kept saying that the Republican Party is entirely unified.
We know that that's not necessarily true, particularly when it comes to this bill. There are series of major sticking points including the state
and local tax deduction. How they're going to pay for this. A lot of questions about how much a Medicaid might be cut.
The president argues they would only look at changing some of that to focus on waste, fraud and abuse. But a lot of Republicans and more blue states,
blue districts that are very much worried about some of that.
I mean there are a number, I think the list goes on of differences that the party and really House Republicans need to work out on this. And so it is a
question of how are they actually going to get here.
But from the president's point of view, and this was true, from what I was told in my conversations with White House officials this morning, his main
goal was to tell them we need to get moving on this bill. Essentially, it is time to vote on this.
And part of that is because so many of the key parts of this bill, the sweeping tax cuts, this idea of no tax on tip over time and Social
Security. All of those things were core campaign promises that the president vowed to do consistently when he was on the campaign trail. And
all of those priorities are currently in this bill.
And from the president's point of view, that is really what he cares about, that he can get those things preserved and really have him be successful in
making sure those pass. The rest of it from this White House's point of view is up for negotiation.
So I think a key question of course is where does this all go from here? Because so far, before he came to Capitol Hill today, the president had not
been, I'm told, directly lobbying members, whipping members and trying to convince them to vote for this.
[12:05:59]
And so I think, you know, we're going to see whether or not his presence on Capitol Hill today, a very notable thing that he went there shortly after
8:00 A.M. to do this. I mean, it shows just how important this is to his administration, really, to his overall legacy.
How much he's going to actually have to do to try and muscle some of these members to get on board. But, of course, what we heard from the president
is often what we do after meetings like this, trying to paint an optimistic view and say things are going ahead on track, even when, of course, behind
the scenes that's not necessarily the case.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. A meeting of love with some reported F bombs dropped as well in terms of touching Medicaid.
ASHER: Don't mess. Let's use the word mess. Don't mess with Medicaid.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Much lovely. OK. Alayna Treene, thank you so much.
TREENE: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: So what's in this bill that spans more than 1,000 pages as it stands right now? Well, one of its centerpieces is making the Trump 2017
tax cuts permanent while adding temporary new ones.
Nonpartisan watchdog groups warned that will increase federal government debt by trillions of dollars over the next decade.
ASHER: It also includes cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and clean energy programs to offset those tax cuts. Also, the package, major spending
increases for immigration enforcement and the military.
How much are Americans actually paying attention to all of this?
CNN's Harry Enten joins us live now to break down the numbers. My guess is, Harry, that when it comes to the deficit, we talk about the federal
deficit, we talk about the budget hawks, deficit hawks that Americans aren't necessarily into that. And that's not what they care about.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: I feel a lot of love in this room. I don't know about that particular room. And I got -- I got a big F word for
you. Friends, friends, that is the F word of the day on this particular side of the aisle, OK? We got friendly things, lots of love.
Let's talk about this, right? You were talking about the federal budget deficit. Here's the deal. Americans, they don't care. They don't care.
I mean, take a look. You know, that's Stephen A Smith. I like doing a little bit, you know, of commentary.
Look, cut taxes even if the deficit increases. Get this, 60 percent of Americans say, yes. Yes, we want those tax cuts, even if the federal budget
deficit increases.
How about among Republicans? Look at that, you get three quarters of them, 74 percent. The only folks who are actually opposed to this idea are
Democrats. Fifty-five percent of Democrats say, we don't want to cut taxes, if in fact the federal deficit goes up.
Now, I want you to take a look at this 60 percent number over here, because I want you to take a look at that. I'm going to go into the time machine.
I'm going to go into the DeLorean. And I want to note how different this was from where we were 30 years ago.
OK. Again, cut taxes even if the deficit increases. You look right now, as I mentioned, it's 60 percent overall. But look at where we were back in
1996. It was 23 percent.
The bottom line is Americans, right now, care about the budget deficit far less than they did 30 years ago when, of course, Bill Clinton was trying to
balance that budget with that Republican Congress, and in fact, actually had a federal budget surplus for the year over the -- over his final few
years in office.
But, of course, even Bill Clinton and that Republican Congress could not bring down the debt when you looked at the entirety of that Bill Clinton
administration.
In fact, let's go back here. And we can see the last president, the last president, despite all of them trying to say, I'm going to bring down the
debt, the last president to actually lower the debt over the course of his presidency, you've got to go all the way back to Calvin Coolidge.
Calvin Coolidge back in the 1920s. Oh, my God. The last 16 presidents have failed to, in fact, bring down the federal debt.
And I'm going to end on a question for you two. Do you happen to know where Calvin Coolidge is buried? What state?
GOLODRYGA: Is it Idaho?
ASHER: Is it -- it's not New Jersey. It's not New Jersey.
ENTEN: No. It's not New Jersey.
GOLODRYGA: No.
ENTEN: It's not New Jersey. And it's -- did you say --
ASHER: My life centers around New Jersey. That's why.
GOLODRYGA: No, no. You know (INAUDIBLE) I'm thinking of Hoover. Hoover, I'm sorry.
ASHER: Where is he buried, Harry?
GOLODRYGA: Where is he buried?
ENTEN: Herbert Hoover, the vacuum guy, I'm just kidding. The person -- where he was actually buried -- where he was actually buried is Vermont.
Vermont is the correct answer.
And I will tell you, I know that Conan O'Brien actually has visited that grave site in Vermont. Maybe I'll go up there. I mean, Vermont is nice this
time of year, right guys?
ASHER: You know, Harry, one thing that's unrelated that I found very interesting about you is that you always drop, not always, but in a lot of
your life hits, you always seem to drop, in many of them, a "Back to the Future" reference.
You love the DeLorean. You know --
ENTEN: I do.
ASHER: Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads. You brought up a whole.
GOLODRYGA: He loves movies.
ASHER: You love "Back to the Future." You're an '80s baby.
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
ASHER: How old are, Harry? Can I out your age?
ENTEN: I am younger than the two of you. I was born.
ASHER: How do you know that?
ENTEN: I would -- I would -- I would put some money in it. I was born in the late 1980s.
ASHER: Whoa.
ENTEN: Look, but age is just the number. And when I grade --
ASHER: That is true.
ENTEN: -- all segments together, I say they're A pluses 100 percent, 10 out of 10.
[12:10:04]
GOLODRYGA: Yes. He can also just look on the Google machine to see how old we are --
ENTEN: That's true.
GOLODRYGA: -- or whenever he's bored as well.
ENTEN: ChatGPT may be. I don't know, you know.
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
ENTEN: That's a good use of it.
ASHER: He's looking at -- he's looking at us and he's like, I'm definitely younger than these two.
ENTEN: No, no, no.
GOLODRYGA: There was a clue reference that you missed last week too.
ENTEN: You're like fine wine. You're like fine wine.
GOLODRYGA: Harry Enten, our friend. Thanks for making me look stupid on that trivia question. Still a friend though. Now I know.
ASHER: Yes.
ENTEN: Well, you know what --
GOLODRYGA: Coolidge, Vermont.
ASHER: Vermont.
ENTEN: Lots of love. Lots of love in this room.
GOLODRYGA: Thank you, Harry.
ASHER: Bye, Harry.
GOLODRYGA: Well, let's get the view from Capitol Hill, CNN's Manu Raju probably knew that Coolidge was buried in Vermont but he's --
ASHER: Probably.
GOLODRYGA: -- actually got more serious things going on right now and that is trying to nail down.
ASHER: He weren't even listening to Harry.
GOLODRYGA: Where Republicans are when it comes to Trump's signature piece of legislation here and that is his beautiful tax bill. Republican
hardliners heard him out, said he did a good job, but they're not committing right now, Manu. What are they telling you?
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is a sweeping bill beyond just the massive overhaul of the United States tax quoted, has
a significant amount of spending cuts to domestic programs.
Also, plus, by hundreds of billions of dollars funding for defense projects, as well as border security proposals and new immigration
restrictions as well.
So this is a big bill that would essentially the entire Trump agenda hinges on getting this through the House and the United States Senate with the
narrowest of majorities, particularly in the House.
And here's the problem that Donald Trump had as he came to Capitol Hill today. There are still divisions over some of the key sticking points in
this proposal.
On the conservative side, there are some who say that does not cut spending enough or concerned that the tax cuts in this plan was actually lead to a
significant growing of the already sky high, $36 trillion plus national debt.
And then there are moderate members who are pushing back against those efforts to try to curtail federal spending, particularly on programs like
the issue of Medicaid or green energy tax breaks. And they're also calling for a greater tax relief on an issue known as state and local tax
deductions.
That is the amount that people pay to their state and local governments that they can deduct from their taxes. Their constituents pay high taxes,
state and local taxes. They want greater relief for those constituents.
But there's pushback on the right for allowing for that tax increase to go ahead because they're worried about the impact on the deficit.
I caught up with one of those members who is pushing for greater state and local tax relief news now planning to vote against this plan. And he said
that Donald Trump's pitch essentially that they should stop negotiating and get in line, did not go far enough for him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NICK LALOTA (R-NY): President's presence here today motivates some folks in the Ways and Means Committee and my leadership to give us a number
to which we can actually say yes.
RAJU: You sound -- so sound pretty frust -- you sound pretty frustrated right now.
LALOTA: I'm fired up, Manu.
RAJU: He didn't want to negotiate. He said, we're done negotiating with you guys. Did he not?
LALOTA: What I took that is, hey, everybody, figure it out. Everybody get in the room and figure it out for the country and for your district. That's
what I took from it. And I hope that my leadership took that message away as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: But the problem for Speaker Johnson is that he really has the narrowest of majorities. He's only afforded to his three Republican votes
on any party line vote and is expected to move along party lines.
And there are far more than three, both on the more moderate wing and the more conservative wing who plan to vote against it at the moment. So, what
does Speaker Johnson do? He's trying to figure out a middle ground.
But if he goes too far in one direction, he loses folks on the other side of his conference. So there really is not a whole lot of room for him to
maneuver.
The hope is that some of these members will ultimately buckle and fall in line. That was Donald Trump's objective in this meeting. But in talking to
members coming out of this, some of them still are indicating that they plan to vote against this because they say the bill needs to change.
Regardless to what Donald Trump is saying, the policy itself needs to change.
But so many complications about changing that policy and getting the votes. And that's what the Speaker is trying to figure out. Trying to get this
bill out of the U.S. House by Thursday. Guys.
GOLODRYGA: LaLota said that he -- LaLota said that he's fired up about the SALT caps in the last hour. We spoke with Corey Mills. He said that he is a
no on raising the caps there. And so you see the predicament that puts these sides, that -- that -- that these warring sides on in these critical
moments.
Manu Raju, thank you so much.
All right. Also on the Hill today, RFK Jr. Earlier, he blasted the World Health Organization calling it bloated and ineffective.
ASHER: Yes. The Health Secretary made the comments in a video address to meeting of global health officials. They remain silent and stoic throughout
his speech. The U.S. has withdrawn from the WHO. And Kennedy encouraged other countries to join in the search for new global health agency.
On the Hill, he defended massive spending cuts and layoffs at federal health agencies here in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR. U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: And then we spend 70 percent of the world's biomedical research at NIH, 70 percent
and we're the sickest country in the world.
[12:15:06]
REP. TAMMY BALDWIN (D-WI): Would cutting $18 billion or 40 percent from the NIH budget slow the development of new treatments in years?
KENNEDY: And we -- and we are the sickest country in the world, so that money has not been well -- well spent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Joining us live now is Dr. Omer Awan. He's a physician who writes about healthcare and public policy for a number of media outlets. Doctor,
thank you so much for being with us.
So in this video address to the WHO, RK Jr. criticized what he referred to as the organization's bureaucratic bloat, that there were conflicts of
interest and international power politics. I mean, obviously the U.S. is withdrawing from the WHO.
What sort of impact does this have on the organization, both in terms of, you know, finances, but also reputationally as well?
OMER AWAN, PHYSICIAN AND SENIOR PUBLIC HEALTH CONTRIBUTOR FOR FORBES: It has a huge impact and it really weakens the WHO because the less people
that are available and the less funds there are, the less capacity the WHO has to do the things that they want to do.
So the most obvious thing is the funding. So United States contributes 18 percent of funding of the WHO budget. That translates to billions of
dollars. And this is going to have a huge effect, particularly with low- income countries that rely on who to mitigate the spread of diseases, things like HIV, malaria, and TB in low-income countries like Sub-Saharan
Africa.
And what I'm scared of is that not only will people die and people are already dying, by the way, that these diseases have no borders. So these
can spread very easily to the globe and throughout the whole world because of the ease of international travel.
So this is going to have profound effects on global health, public health. And we're only starting to see the effects of those.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And what is the impact on pandemic preparedness? Because every expert we speak with says that the next global pandemic is just
around the corner. It is inevitable at some point.
AWAN: It's absolutely huge, because one of the things that I think people don't understand about the WHO is that they have a very robust surveillance
networking system with data. And when the U.S. withdraws, they don't want to access to this data, this robust data that helps them prepare for
pandemics, things like mitigating the spread of diseases, you know, looking at trends in the way diseases are spreading.
And without that information, we're essentially walking blind in the way we handle a pandemic. And so there are going to always be threats, things like
Ebola, bird flu. So we have to be prepared.
And we're not part of the WHO, we don't have access to that critical data that can then help us prepare for the pandemic.
ASHER: And just in terms of something else that RFK Jr. talked about in his video, he talked about health ministers around the world essentially
cooperating and working together outside of the WHO.
I mean, I just want to get your thoughts on that as an -- as an alternative that he sort of floated.
AWAN: Well, he's always floating alternatives. And that's sort of what he has been doing, you know, since he started the sec -- being the secretary
of HHS. But the WHO is really the most central organization that promotes public health, that promotes the well-being and safeguards, the health of
people all around the world.
So this is really the organization that people should be investing in to make the most important decisions about vaccines, for example, safety
precautions for infectious diseases. So when less countries are part of it, that weakens the total public health infrastructure.
And that is not a good thing for people and for the health of Americans and the health of people all around the world. So my take is that, you know,
this -- to do alternative things when something that is already well established that is doing such good for humanity, it's -- it's a bit
troubling.
ASHER: Yes. So you're saying it, but if it's not broken, then why bother fixing it?
All right. Dr. Omer Awan, live for us there, thank you so much.
All right. Still to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): Vladimir Putin is doing now is playing for time and he's playing this president like a fiddle.
MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Prescribed to everybody on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Secretary of State testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee the day after that phone call between the U.S. and Russian
presidents. Detail and analysis, ahead.
GOLODRYGA: Plus, Israel pushes forward with its new offensive in Gaza. We look at the impact that it's having on civilians and the response from the
international community.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:20:04]
ASHER: All right. I want to turn now to developments in Gaza where at least 49 people were killed and Israeli airstrikes overnight according to
officials. We're looking at video obtained by CNN showing the aftermath of strikes near Gaza City.
GOLODRYGA: Hundreds have been killed after Israel ramped up strikes last week and launched a ground incursion against Hamas. The U.K., France, and
Canada are threatening potential sanctions if Israel does not stop the offensive.
Prime Minister Netanyahu responded by accusing the leaders of offering what he called a huge prize to the October 7th attackers.
The U.N. says Israel has given approval for around 100 aid trucks to enter Gaza on Tuesday. It's a huge increase compared to Monday where only five
trucks crossed through, something the U.N. said was totally insufficient for Gaza's population of more than two million people.
The U.N. backed report recently warned that one in five people in Gaza are facing starvation. The U.N. official says there should be open access to
humanitarian support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENS LAERKE, U.N. OFFICE FOR COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: There's one way to remove this market of desperation overnight, in one go. And that
is to open access for all this aid to come in to meet the needs of desperate people. And the market of desperation disappears.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Israel is vowing to take control of the whole of Gaza as it pushes ahead with its new offensive.
Jeremy Diamond has more in how civilians are being impacted. We want to warn you that his piece does contain some really disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The next chapter of Israel's war in Gaza is now underway, and it could be the deadliest yet.
Over the weekend, the Israeli military launching "Operation Gideon's Chariots" striking Gaza with devastating force. Tens of thousands of troops
now mobilized for the offensive with a new mission from the top.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We have intense, massive fighting going on. Intense and immense. There is progress.
We are going to take control of the entire Gaza Strip. That's what we are going to do.
DIAMOND: Israeli strikes have killed more than 300 people since Friday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The toll on civilians is once again rapidly mounting. Among those killed is Aylul (ph), taken from this world just four months after she was born into
it. Her small body now lies on her father's chest while her family searches for words to make sense of it all.
They were all asleep, a mother, father and their 4-month-old daughter, all targeted in their bedroom, Aylul's uncle Omar says. I don't know what to
say anymore. We've spoken a lot. No one is looking after us, not Arabs, not Muslims, no one.
[12:25:05]
In Khan Yunis, mattresses and belongings are piled high once again as Israel's new offensive triggers Gaza's latest mass displacement.
The Israeli military ordering hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate, declaring the area a dangerous combat zone.
In that same city, anger and frustration boiling over, including at Hamas. Hundreds of Palestinians taking to the streets in a rare protest, calling
for the war to end and for Hamas to get out.
After pushing Gaza to the brink of famine, Israel now agreeing to partially lift its 11-week blockade.
NETANYAHU (through translator): We need to provide a temporary bridge, minimal, basic aid to prevent starvation. That's the current situation
we're in.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The Israeli government says several dozen aid trucks will be allowed into Gaza this week until a new Israeli approved mechanism
for aid deliveries becomes operational later this month. Thousands more are ready to go. Aid trucks will continue to be blocked.
Amid the destruction of another airstrike in Central Gaza, residents are paying close attention to ceasefire negotiations in the Qatari capital. But
here, flickers of progress lead only to another body that must be wrenched from the rubble.
We went to sleep with hope that tomorrow will be better, and suddenly everything turned upside down, Raed Abu Elik (ph) says. My message is look
at this. Stop this war.
More men eventually joined Raed to pull out their neighbor's body and carry him out of the rubble. Signs of hope now seem far away once again.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:30:40]
GOLODRYGA: Welcome back to "ONE WORLD." I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is facing some tough questions about his boss' foreign policy agenda. He spent the
last couple of hours testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
America's top diplomat defended the Trump administration's deep cuts to foreign aid and his overhaul of the State Department.
GOLODRYGA: Senators also asked him about President Trump's plans to unwind sanctions on Syria, the delivery of aid to Gaza, and efforts to end the war
in Ukraine.
Listen to the back and forth between Rubio and Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAHEEN: What Vladimir Putin is doing now is playing for time. And he's playing this president like a fiddle. And the more longer he plays it, the
more opportunity he has to gain territory in Ukraine. And the harder it's going to be to get him to the table.
RUBIO: But I --
SHAHEEN: What we need to do is to put pressure on Vladimir Putin in every way we can to ensure that we can get them to the negotiating table.
RUBIO: Well, I disagree with this playing with a fiddle analogy because the truth of the matter is when Vladimir Putin woke up this morning, he had the
same set of sanctions on him that he's always had since the beginning of this conflict. And Ukraine was still getting armaments and shipments from
us and from our allies.
What has Putin gained throughout this? He hasn't gotten a single concession. He hasn't gotten a single sanction lifted.
SHAHEEN: He's gotten time. And the more time he gets with that additional pressure on Russia, the more incentive he's got to continue --
RUBIO: Well, yes --
SHAHEEN: -- to gain territory and continue to play for time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: CNN's Kylie Atwood joins us live now from the State Department.
So you think about just how Marco Rubio obviously became Secretary of State. I mean, he -- he was approved 99 to 0 in the Senate. But now you
have a lot of Democrats who are essentially regretting their decision because they don't feel as though the Secretary of State has done enough to
stand up to Donald Trump.
I mean, it's everything from, of course, Russia, Ukraine to USAID as well. Just walk us through some of the questions he was asked on the Hill today.
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, he's been asked a wide range of questions. And you're right that some of these members who
voted in his favor during his confirmation hearing publicly now expressing that they have concerns that they effectively regret that vote.
They are saying that he is someone who did in the past stand up for humanitarian support globally, that it was a critical tool of U.S. foreign
policy. And now he has effectively flip flopped on that, given many of the Trump administration policies on that front.
We should also note when it comes to the issues of the day on foreign policy, just yesterday, there was that phone call, of course, between
President Trump and President Putin.
And Secretary Rubio was asked if the United States would be threatening any new U.S. sanctions against Russia, obviously, given that there hasn't been
tangible movement towards a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
And -- and Rubio said that it's President Trump's belief that threatening new sanctions now would effectively mean that Russia stops talking to the
United States and that it's right now useful for the United States to continue talking to Russia.
He also said that that doesn't mean necessarily that this is all going to work out. He said that sanctions, down the line, could potentially come
though. He gave no timeline for when those would come.
But this is an issue that we are looking at incredibly closely, trying to figure out what the fallout will be, what the next moves will be in these
talks to try and bring up to the Ukraine more.
And I also want to note that he was asked about the resettlement here in the United States of white South Africans. And he defended bringing those
South Africans here to the United States as refugees saying it was in U.S. national interest, and it's a small subset of people who are easier for the
United States to vet.
And if he really wouldn't answer the question when a senator asked him if that was the -- the -- the group of people around the world who has been
targeted the most, persecuted the most.
ASHER: All right. Kylie Atwood live for us there. Thank you so much.
[12:35:59]
GOLODRYGA: All right. Time now for "The Exchange." We want to take a closer look at some of the foreign policy challenges under the Trump
administration. Max Boot joins us now from New York. He's an author, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a columnist at "The
Washington Post," and a well-known friend of the show. Max, good to see you.
So as it relates to this phone call between President Trump and President Putin yesterday, I think there had been some anticipation going into it and
some hopes, especially from the Ukrainians and Europeans that President Trump himself was frustrated with Russia for sort of stringing him along
and kicking the can down the road and rope-a-doping, however, you want to describe the current state of play from the Russian perspective.
And in the end, you've got a two-hour phone call where the president of the United States says that, well, this is now going to be decided between the
two parties, maybe at the Vatican, essentially suggesting that the United States is taking a backseat and not putting any ultimatums on the president
of Russia.
It's one thing for Secretary of State to say no concessions were made. But what, if anything, did the United States get out of Russia?
MAX BOOT, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Nothing that I can tell. It's actually sort of shocking to see the way that President Trump is
willing to allow himself to be played by Vladimir Putin, because when there was any suggestion at all that President Zelenskyy was not doing what Trump
wanted in terms of ending the war, remember, that infamous Oval Office meeting where President Trump and Vice President Vance lashed out at
Zelenskyy, and then Trump actually interrupted USAID to Ukraine for several days to send a message of basically play ball or else.
Well, President Zelenskyy has been playing ball. He agreed in March to a 30-day ceasefire, which was a U.S. initiative. And Putin completely refuses
to go along with that. And yet, mysteriously, Trump is not applying any pressure to Putin.
In fact, basically, in an two-hour phone call yesterday, again, Putin was stringing Trump along, and Trump seemed happy to be strung along. He said
it was a great call. He didn't announce any new sanctions.
In fact, there's reporting today that he's lobbying the Europeans not to enact new sanctions. And as we heard, Secretary of State Rubio say, in his
testimony, the president is afraid that if we sanction Russia, Putin will stop talking to us.
Well, we're not getting anything by talking to him. The only way to get his attention is to apply some pressure, to apply some leverage. That's kind of
deal-making 101. And you know where I read that? I read that in the "Art of the Deal," post-written for Donald Trump, who was a developer.
But he's not applying his deal-making rulebook now that he's actually president of the United States.
ASHER: So then, Max, if there are no meaningful consequences to Russia, as Russia continues to stall, and as it makes unrealistic demands, that it
knows that Ukraine is never going to agree to, if there are no meaningful consequences, then where do negotiations, or where can negotiations
possibly go from here?
BOOT: I think they're going to go where they're going right now, which is a complete dead-end. I mean, there actually was a meeting last week, as you
know, in Turkey between the Ukrainian and Russian representatives, with a very low-level Russian delegation.
And the head of that delegation basically told the -- told the Ukrainians that the Russians are prepared to fight forever. That's not a conciliatory
message. That's not an indication that Putin wants peace.
Now, I do think that Putin's calculations may change down the line if he sees that he is not able to make substantial gains on the ground.
Right now, however, I think Putin thinks that Trump will cut off Ukraine and Russia is just beginning to spring offensive now. So I think Putin
still has hopes that he will be able to swing the balance of power in this war on the battlefield.
And so he's not making any concessions before he does that. But if the Ukrainians can continue the success they've been having in stalling the
Russian offensive, holding the front lines, a year from now, Putin may look at things a little bit differently.
When, you know, by a year from now, Russia will have lost more than a million troops killed and wounded. And if they have an advance
substantially, at that point, even Putin may have to start to realize that he needs to negotiate an earnest.
But it's pretty clear right now, Putin has no interest in negotiating. And Trump is not doing anything to change his calculations.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And he's completely turned the country into a wartime footing right now. Oil prices have somewhat stabilized. That could have
been the biggest threat to Vladimir Putin in the short-term as a rapid drop in oil prices. But now that there's been a temporary pause put on these
sanctions, he's -- he's gotten some reprieve there as well.
Max, we know that other topics were discussed in this two-hour meeting. And I'm wondering what you make of Russia's role in both the Iran nuclear
talks, given the leverage that Russia has with Iran now and vice-versa.
[12:40:04]
And also in Syria, because that is an interesting development. Russia still exports oil to Syria because of the sanctions in place there. But now that
the president of the United States has lifted all sanctions, does that threaten Russia's hold in that country even more?
BOOT: I mean, I think Russia's hold in -- in Syria, Russia's role in Syria has been pretty tenuous anyway since the overthrow of their ally, Bashar
Assad. The new regime has no love lost for the Russians, given the way that the Russians spent years aiding Assad in his war crimes against the people
of Syria.
And so the Russians may -- may hang on to their naval base at Tartus, but I don't see Russia having a major role in Syria. And I don't see Russia
having a major role in the -- in the talks with Iran over its nuclear program, because even though Russia was -- was a -- you know, was a key
element of those negotiations in the past, I think the situation has now changed such that Russia has actually become, to some extent dependent on
Iran.
Iran has provided crucial aid to Russia in its war in Ukraine, including drones, including munitions of various kinds. So I don't think that Putin
is -- is going to help the U.S. or anybody else in applying pressure to Iran.
GOLODRYGA: No. I mean, in getting them to agree to a deal, because you're right, Russia has become dependent on Iran for their weapons, but it's
Russia's that's been paying for those weapons.
BOOT: Well, I don't -- again, I don't think a -- a deal, a -- a U.S. deal with -- with Iran over its nuclear weapons is necessarily in Russia's
interest, because the upshot of that deal is -- is going to be probably if the U.S. lifts sanctions in part or -- or in whole, that will lead to more
Iranian oil on the world market. That could well depress the price of oil, and that would hurt Russia economically.
So I'm having trouble seeing what their incentive is to do anything to help with the -- with the nuclear negotiations.
ASHER: All right. Max Boot, live for us there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Thanks, Max.
ASHER: All right. Still to come, 28 deaths and widespread devastation after tornadoes ripped through multiple states in the U.S. But one city mayor
says federal assistance is not on the ground yet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:45:05]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, man. It's a tornado, man. We have a tornado. Oh (BLEEP). Oh, (BLEEP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Powerful tornadoes putting millions of people in the central U.S. at risk again today, like this powerful twister that ripped the roof
off a house in St. Louis, Missouri on Friday.
ASHER: City officials say at least five people have died in the past few days. Mayor Cara Spence says no representatives from FEMA have been on the
ground in that time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARA SPENCER, MAYOR OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: What we need right now is federal assistance. This is where FEMA and the federal government has got
to come in and help communities. Our city cannot shoulder this alone. The state of Missouri cannot shoulder this alone.
We need partners at the national level, at the federal level, to step up and help. And this is not just true for St. Louis, cities across the
nation, when they are -- when experiencing disasters such as this. This is what the federal government is for. We need your help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: At least 28 people have been killed in days of violent storms across the central and eastern states with casualties in Missouri,
Kentucky, and Virginia.
ASHER: There are growing concerns that the scientists who monitor for disasters are being let go as the Trump administration slashes federal
spending. Potentially leading Americans vulnerable to tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and even earthquakes as well.
CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: We have been hearing from scientists in all corners of federal agencies living in this culture of
fear after the (INAUDIBLE) layoffs from DOGE and now the new so-called Big Beautiful Bill which threatens even deeper cuts right now.
And especially for those people who spend their nights worrying about the biggest disasters like a 9.0 earthquake on the West Coast. FEMA predicts
that would kill over 13,000 people and injure 100,000. So for emergency managers, that is the big one.
But experts tell us now as a result of these cuts and the looming cuts, the United States is less prepared than ever before in modern times to prepare
for it.
Harold Tobin, who runs the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and also the Shake Alert System, explains that these seismographs, there are hundreds of
them in the -- in the West. They're up at the end of logging roads and on top of mountains that need to be maintained.
That network is what gives scientists and the National Weather Service and then the public early warnings of coming quakes or big ones that has just
happened or tsunamis and the critical minutes it takes to warn people before tsunami waves reach shore where people live.
Corina Allen was just laid off. She was the tsunami program leader at the National Weather Service. She told my colleague, Ellen Nelson (ph), we're
already underprepared for these events.
And now being able to detect these sorts of things literally save hundreds if not thousands of lives. That is the impact, that is the risk we face by
reducing the capacity of work at NOAA.
The U.S. Geological Survey, who also monitors volcanoes in places like Hawaii and Alaska, says they remain committed as well, but they have lost a
lot of their early warning systems and -- and personnel around these.
And folks who study solar storms. That whole set of scientists is moving to a different agency, adding confusion and a culture of fear there as well.
Of course, solar storms can upset our telecommunications and -- and a lot of the modern economies that rely on electronics right now.
But bottom line, this is yet another cry from the scientific community trying to warn the public that the guardians who are keeping an eye out on
these physical events that can have devastating effects are being stripped back. And the public is all the less safe for it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: All right. Still to come on CNN, we're following a California family's nine-month journey under quarantine, as they try to protect their
daughter from a potentially deadly infection.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:38]
ASHER: A Columbia University student is celebrating his graduation instead of spending time in a U.S. detention facility. Mohsen Mahdawi received his
diploma in New York on Monday. The philosophy major was arrested last month during an interview finalizing his U.S. citizenship as the Trump
administration cracked down on pro-Palestinian activists.
A judge later ordered his release. Here's what Mahdawi told reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHSEN MAHDAWI, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY GRADUATE: Me coming to this university rather than being in a prison clothes, rather than being in a prison,
either in Vermont or in Louisiana, I come here to celebrate with who? With my fellow students, my brothers and sisters, and with my professors, and
with my community in New York City.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Mahdawi says his fellow students, professors and faculty cheered for the ideas of peace, equality and humanity.
Meantime, in California, a family has been quarantined for nearly nine months in order to protect their immunocompromised baby as she waits and
life-saving implant.
Laurie Perez with CNN affiliate KCAL shows us the painstaking lengths they have gone through to give their daughter a fighting chance at life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
It's very scary. So far it's been terrifying and lonely, you know.
LAURIE PEREZ, KCAL REPORTER (voice-over): Meet the Landrons Santa Clarita's bubble family. For almost nine months now, they have lived in isolation.
Dad Alex, a Navy man, works from home, they homeschool their son, Dean, and celebrate holidays and birthdays from afar.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happy birthday to you.
PEREZ (voice-over): Family and friends do drop-off deliveries of food and supplies.
M. LANDRON: OK. We don't see anybody. There is no six feet apart.
A. LANDRON: Yes.
M. LANDRON: You don't go near anybody. We wear a mask anywhere and everywhere. We don't --
A. LANDRON: Whenever -- whenever we all have the front door, we have to put a mask on.
M. LANDRON: Yes. Like even if we're going to the trash, we put a mask on. Like you don't go -- we don't go to stores.
PEREZ (voice-over): Basically, a permanent state of beyond extreme pandemic restrictions because nearly nine-month-old Syanne was born without
immunity. Any exposure to germs or infection at all could be deadly.
PEREZ: So she doesn't have that thymus gland. So that means that her body cannot do what?
M. LANDRON: It can't produce T-cells and it can't educate T-cells.
So normally, the T-cells go to the thymus so that it's taught like, OK, here's a virus. Here's a bacteria. Go fight it. It means she's born with no
immunity and no way of creating an immunity. So she has zero fight or defense against viruses, bacteria, and fungi.
PEREZ (voice-over): Every second Syanne is not at home, which is only when she goes to her doctor, she's inside a plastic shield.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stay with me.
A. LANDRON: We're scared of her at all -- at all times. You know, our biggest concern is that she can't get sick.
M. LANDRON: Yes.
A. LANDRON: She -- she cannot get sick.
PEREZ (voice-over): UCLA doctor Carolyn Kuo is her immunologist.
CAROLINE KUO, PEDIATRIC ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY, UCLA HEALTH: This little girl, she's -- her body is trying to make these immune cells, but they
don't have a place to get educated. And so they can't function properly. And we know that babies that don't have T-cells, they cannot usually live
past a year of life or, you know, a little longer than a year.
PEREZ (voice-over): Just a few weeks ago, Syanne was approved to get a thymus implant. It'll come from another healthy baby who's undergoing
surgery and could save her life. But the clock is ticking and success depends on Syanne staying 100 percent healthy.
[12:55:08]
KUO: When we say that we want this baby to be free of infections, we mean all infections. I don't just mean the really serious ones. I mean common
vir -- viruses that we all come into contact with. And so that means that this family has had to have very minimal contact with the outside world.
PEREZ (voice-over): That is until they get the call to head to Duke University, the only facility in the U.S. that can perform the implant.
There's no telling when she might get a match. The Landrons are prepared to stay in the bubble for as long as it takes.
M. LANDRON: We are very, very big on the power of prayer and how people are constantly just, you know, the more that we can get prayed for her --
prayed for her, the -- you know, God's listening and that's all that we are hoping for.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: That is an incredible story.
GOLODRYGA: It really -- really is. We're wishing them the best.
Well, that does it for this hour, this day of "ONE WORLD." I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. She'll be back with "AMANPOUR" right after the short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:00:00]
END
