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One World with Zain Asher
Two Israeli Embassy Staffers Killed In D.C., Suspect In Custody; Business Jet Crashes Into San Diego Neighborhood; Trump Uses Moment To Push "White Genocide" Falsehoods; Pentagon Accepts Qatari Plane, major Upgrades Needed; Trump To Meet With Biggest Holders Of His Own Crypto Token; House Passes Trump`s Sweeping Tax And Spending Bill; New "Epic Universe" Theme Park Opens. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired May 22, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:57]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: Israeli embassy staffers gunned down in Washington, D.C.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: The second hour of "ONE WORLD" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAM BONDI, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: They walked outside to go home and were gunned down. That cannot happen in our community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: They were just days from being engaged. The latest on the investigation into the shooting of a young couple who worked for the
Israeli Embassy in Washington.
ASHER: And the damage is extensive. A small plane crashes into a San Diego neighborhood. What we know about the flight and the aftermath.
GOLODRYGA: What visitors are saying about Orlando`s new theme park, an inside look at Universal Epic Universe on opening day.
ASHER: All right. Live from New York, I`m Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I`m Bianna Golodryga. You`re watching the second hour of "ONE WORLD."
We began with an intense police investigation and widespread condemnation of the murder of a young couple. Both Israeli Embassy staffers about to be
engaged who were gunned down on a street in the U.S. Capitol.
Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were shot and killed Wednesday night near the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.
ASHER: Police say they`re searching the Chicago home of the suspect in the attack identified as Elias Rodriguez from Chicago. A short time ago, U.S.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the suspect acted alone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BONDI: What we saw last night was disgusting. I saw a young man`s body being taken away who is about to get engaged. He had an entire life in
front of him and that was taken away.
The hate has got to stop and it has to stop now. And this person will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: U.S. President Donald Trump says the attack was, quote, based obviously on anti-Semitism.
ASHER: And Israel`s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to beef up security at Israeli embassies around the world. For its part, the Jewish
community is vowing to get through this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YECHIEL LEITER, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: We are a resilient people. The people of Israel are resilient people. The people of the United
States of America are resilient people.
Together, we won`t be afraid. Together, we`ll stand. And we`re going to overcome moral depravity of people who think that they`re going to achieve
political gains through murder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: CNN`s Alex Marquardt joins us now from the scene. And just so heartbreaking, Alex, especially as you`re hearing more about this young
couple. The fact that they were about to be engaged upon their upcoming travels to Israel.
All of that changed within a fraction of seconds as they were so senselessly murdered. What more are we learning?
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, they were coming out of an event that was put on by the American Jewish Committee at
that museum, that red brick building that you see behind me, the Capitol Jewish Museum, when they were gunned down and killed, allegedly by Elias
Rodriguez, the suspect who is now in custody.
[12:05:07]
We haven`t learned too much more about whether he`s cooperating with the authorities. That was one question that was just put to Pam Bondi, the
Attorney General. Another was whether they would be seeking the death penalty for Rodriguez.
One thing that Bondi did say, as you noted, that is that they would try to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. And what we`re learning
from our colleagues is one thing that the charges that they`re looking at right now, the federal prosecutors are federal hate crime charges as to
this question about whether or not this was an act of terror or terrorism. In the FBI`s mind, certainly the deputy director earlier today did talk
about this as an act of terror.
In terms of the victims, I have been told by an Israeli official that they were planning on getting engaged next week in Jerusalem, just like the
ambassador said, and that they had what this official called the cutest love story, that they looked like a poster out of a Netflix rom-com was
what this official had said.
Now, Lischinsky, we have learned, is both a German and an Israeli citizen. He was 30 years old. His dream was to become a diplomat, according to the
dean of his university, Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
While Milgrim was an American citizen, 26 years old. She was focused at the embassy on organizing all kinds of trips for different groups, religious
groups, scientific groups, political groups.
And -- and Lischinsky was gonna take her back to Israel next week, not just to propose to her, but to introduce her to his family. And, of course, that
tragically will now not happen.
As they emerged after that event broke up at around 9:00 P.M. last night, they were also, I was told, with two other staffers from the Israeli
embassy, young American women, they were standing next to the couple as they were gunned down. Thankfully, those two women were not harmed.
Zain, Bianna?
GOLODRYGA: Yes. So tragic. Sarah`s mom was expected to travel to Washington to take care of her dog while they were away in Israel. And, of course,
we`ve all learned now that he was about to propose. We`ll hopefully get more information from authorities at a briefing soon.
Alex Marquardt, thank you.
ASHER: God knows what her mom is going through today.
All right. To San Diego now, we`re in the past a few hours of business jet crashed into one of the city`s neighborhoods, setting multiple homes on
fire. You`re actually looking at some of the images of the aftermath. You can see severe damage there to buildings and -- and vehicles.
GOLODRYGA: Unbelievable. Look at that. Officials say jet fuel spilled down the streets, creating an enormous fire. And authorities now say multiple
people have died. Look at this video. It`s just unbelievable.
The Assistant Fire Chief says it looks as though all of the fatalities were on the plane, not at homes.
Pete Muntean is on the story for us. Pete, what more are we learning?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, San Diego Chief Dan Eddy said that those multiple fatalities were a new piece of news here. Still
unclear, though, how many were on board this flight and how many, if any, were killed on the ground. That would be a pretty big miracle here,
considering the scope of this disastrous scene, something that first responders described as horrific when they arrived there in that
neighborhood for Navy enlisted at one of the nearby military bases, about 3:45 A.M. local time.
This crash occurred in relatively poor weather. Thick fog was reported at the nearby Miramar Marine Corps air station, visibility of about two miles
and mist. Something, of course, investigators will want to look at.
Still unclear how many were on board this private jet assessing a citation to seats between 6, 8, and 10 people, depending on the configuration of the
plane. It`s a twin engine jet. We`ve described it as a small plane, although it`s not exactly all that small, about 52 foot wingspan.
This plane has a pretty decent range. And interestingly, this flight took off on the East Coast in New York late Wednesday night at the Teterboro
Airport in New Jersey, just outside of New York City, about 11:00 in the evening local time.
Then did a refueling stop near Wichita, Kansas, was on the ground there for about 45 minutes. Then the flight continued on to Montgomery Field outside
of San Diego, was scheduled to land there around 3:45 A.M. local time, but apparently did not make it.
The plane was lined up to land on the longer of the two parallel runways there. And the pilot radioed that he had lined up with the runway, but
there was no apparent distress call.
These type of airplanes are known as relatively forgiving. They`re not a swept wing jet that is so typical in business jets to give them more speed.
This is a straight. This is a straight wing. Pilot of these describe this to me like flying one of the smaller Cessnas which is with more systems.
It`s a little more advanced when it comes to the complexity on board the plane.
[12:10:21]
Seems like we can probably rule out that fuel exhaustion or running out of fuel was the case here because of the widespread nature of this fire on the
ground. You could see in the images there the scorched cars parked on the shoulder of the street there. Some homes with chunks taken out of them.
A big question now for investigators as they arrive on this scene is, where is the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder? Some of these
citation to business jets do have a voice recorder. Some have a data recorder. In fact many do.
That will be key because we know there was no distress call made. So not much to glean from the flight path or the radio calls.
We know from first responders that about a hundred people were evacuated from this neighborhood to a nearby school.
The good news is that it seems like very few were taken to the hospital with injuries. The sad reality is that people died here but seems like it
could have been so so much worse. This is a miracle really.
ASHER: I mean, this is a miracle, really. I mean, and I -- and I say that, you know. I don`t use that word very often, but just -- just the number of
people that could have been hurt. That could have lost their lives when you look at the images.
The fact that nobody on the ground died as a result of this is a miracle on God`s green earth.
MUNTEAN: And it`s a densely populated area. They`re not --
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
MUNTEAN: -- short of the runway in San Diego. And this is the plight of small airports around the country. Usually, they were established.
Sometimes, I think, Montgomery was established in the `30s or `40s.
And then development encroaches more and more on an airport that was put out someplace far away from a metro area. San Diego is very densely
populated. It is a miracle indeed that this was not worse.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Pete Muntean, we love your reporting. You`re fantastic. But every time you come on --
ASHER: I know.
GOLODRYGA: -- my heart stars to pound.
ASHER: My heart sinks, gosh.
MUNTEAN: Sorry.
GOLODRYGA: What now?
ASHER: What now?
GOLODRYGA: Thank you. You`ll stay on this story for us.
Well, it was this time yesterday our hearts were also palpitated for a different reason. We were all watching yet another ambush, this time of
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, in the Oval Office.
ASHER: Yes. President Donald Trump seized the moment to push his false narrative about a white genocide in South Africa complete with a video
presentation. He accused President Ramaphosa of not doing enough to prevent it.
Their meeting was the top headline in many newspapers across Johannesburg highlighting the tense diplomatic exchange.
GOLODRYGA: CNN`s Larry Madowo is joining us from Nairobi with more on the fallout. And the fallout continues. I mean, Larry we ended the show because
the meeting kept going and going at a point some of the heightened tension happened after the president asked for the lights to be dimmed and then put
on a video for the president of South Africa to see some of these images, the president himself didn`t recognize asked President Trump, what is this?
I`ve never seen this before.
Just walk us through the aftermath and the reaction now to this meeting some 24 hours later.
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bianna, Zain, many South Africa think President Ramaphosa handled himself quite well under the circumstances. He
remained calm and composed. He pushed back when he should have. He didn`t raise his voice. He didn`t appear angry.
Once South African newspaper declare today that he was not Zelenskyy and many South Africans considered that a win because he did try and clarify
their relationship with the U.S. which is what he intended to do.
And after they did send away the cameras, it took more than an hour, but they did eventually meet in private, and he said, they had a good meeting.
He even appeared to get President Trump to agree that he will attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg this November which President Trump has been on
the fence about.
So overall, many people think, given this confrontational multimedia ambush, as I called it yesterday, he did quite well. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SABELO MOTHA, JOHANNESBURG RESIDENT: Whatever they think about South Africa he should have just let it be. We know where we stand. We as South
Africans, we know there is no white genocide.
FUNDI MQALI, JOHANNESBURG RESIDENT: I think what it did to Ramaphosa to prove them that -- that we don`t have no separation in this country. We
believe in South African. That`s why we call ourselves the Rainbow nation.
So, come on, we wouldn`t be killing one another. We have most peaceful nation to ever come across in the whole world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO: That video presentation that President Trump surprised President Ramaphosa with featured Julius Malema prominently, the far left leader of
the EFF, the Economic Freedom Fighters. And he reacted almost immediately saying some old man gathered in Washington to gossip about me.
[12:15:04]
He said there`s no evidence of what genocide and it will not distract them from the core message of land expropriation without compensation.
The EFF then did follow up with the statement, a wider statement that said this meeting privileged white monopoly capital, the voices of the
privileged white South Africans, which is what they fight against.
And they said that song, Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer that played prominently in that video, is not a little call to kill any white Afrikaner
farmers, but it`s a desire to destroy the system of white -- minority control over South Africa`s resources. So a spin on that.
But there`s one group that was very happy with how this meeting went. That is AfriForum. That is the white African lobby group that some have called
the white nationalist group. They told CNN they were very happy because it illustrated that the issues in South Africa cannot be swept under the
carpet and South Africa`s respect, property rights and human rights.
And they`re still staying in South Africa, but they`re glad these issues are getting discussed.
GOLODRYGA: I mean, the fact that that Zelenskyy meeting has turned into a verb.
ASHER: I know it`s to get Zelenskyy.
GOLODRYGA: He wasn`t Zelenskyy. Yes.
ASHER: Not even to get Zelenskyy. Just to get -- just to be Zelenskyy.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. OK. Larry Madowo, thank you.
ASHER: All right. We`ll, now welcome our next guest, Mmusi Maimane. He`s a member of South Africa`s National Assembly where he leads the Build One
South Africa Political Party. Mmusi, thank you so much for being with us.
You know, when you think about a meeting like what happened a few months ago between Trump and Zelenskyy, that is a meeting that is supposed to, if
it happens at all, it`s supposed to just happen once.
Maybe worst-case scenario, once in a generation. But the fact that we`re now seeing this type of ambush in the White House every few months is
obviously really disturbing. I thought that the meeting, when it first started, actually was going really well until President Trump said dim the
lights. That`s when I knew it was over.
Just give us your sense of what you were experiencing as a South African as you watched the meeting unfold.
MMUSI MAIMANE, LEADER, BUILD ONE SOUTH AFRICA: Well, good day. And -- and thank you so much for having me.
First and foremost, I thought that South Africa had a difficult job of trying to come and communicate, not only to the American public, to
President Trump and to the international community a few crucial facts, which is that South Africa is an investable place, that there is in fact no
genocide taking place. And then ultimately, we deem our bilateral trade with the U.S. crucial.
I do believe that what needed to have equally been done is to observe President Trump`s historic debates that took place in the presidential run
up. Because in that space, this is not new conduct on the part of President Trump in that sense.
And it required for us as South Africans to not only put the facts across, but also equally demonstrate the fact that violence is not just is a global
phenomena that requires all of us peace loving people. And I would believe President Trump should be one of those people that we should -- we should
deal with violence in all of our countries.
And South Africa is not unique in that regard. And we`re doing a lot as a country to ensure that the steps that we`re taking actively to make sure
that our murder rate comes down, that citizens are protected.
And so this is a crucial intervention that needed to be communicated yesterday outside of the theatrics of a video that in many ways doesn`t --
doesn`t -- doesn`t speak the authenticity of West Africa is at.
GOLODRYGA: One question that we typically pose during meetings like this are deliverables or what presidents walked away with during some meetings.
And we know that President Ramaphosa was hoping to not only reset relations, but to talk about economic ties between these two countries,
whether it`s rare earth minerals, whether it`s their past history, in exchanging of goods and the fact that this is, I believe, South Africa`s
second largest trading partner --
ASHER: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: -- the United States.
Was any of that, in your view, seen as a success? Because I`m not sure what deals or what arrangements were agreed upon. Things started to unravel
quite quickly as we saw before our very own eyes.
MAIMANE: Yes. And I think everyone who was watching that would have been bitterly disappointed. And I think South Africans also feel in that manner.
What we should argue for --
ASHER: Mmusi, speaking of dimming the light.
MAIMANE: -- is the fact that now what we`ve got to do is.
ASHER: Mmusi, speaking of dimming the lights. Your lights just went out.
MAIMANE: Yes. We have --
ASHER: OK. No. Con -- continue because we`re covering you with video now. So -- so continue. We can hear you.
GOLODRYGA: Oh, that`s the way that we lost his --
MAIMANE: I`ll continue as best as I can.
GOLODRYGA: There he is.
ASHER: OK. Go ahead.
MAIMANE: What is most crucial that we needed to achieve is that the meetings that have taken place the two days before with the Minister of
Trade and Industry need to be continued.
I think that what South Africa needs to do is to make sure sooner rather than later is put a special envoy into the U.S., it puts an ambassador in
place so that actually the con -- the conversations can continue.
[12:20:09]
And meetings such as this one cannot be the final destination of the discussion. It requires much more than that.
And therefore, what is crucial for us to do is to keep putting forward our thesis, why it is investable, and what our growth targets look like, why
our goal matters to us, and know the fact that our relationship with the U.S. will outlive the Trump administration because the next administration
is certainly one that will continue to work with, given that both countries need each other in the sense that we`ve got minerals that the U.S. needs.
We`ve got citrus and -- and agricultural products that the U.S. needs. And furthermore, we also need -- we`ve got our -- some of our motto industries
that are going there in as much as many U.S. companies are invested in South Africa.
So this conversation cannot just be a four-year stint. It has to be seen in a multi-decade historically and certainly one prospectively.
ASHER: Yes. I mean, it`s definitely about the long game for South Africa. But, you know, you guys brought up an important point, not just about
trade, but there was no way that Ramaphosa was ever going to convince Donald Trump that a white genocide was not taking place in South Africa.
He had made up his mind and it did not matter what Ramaphosa said. He wasn`t going to be convinced otherwise. And I think that the South African
president, to his credit, he knew that, that`s why he wasn`t defensive. I thought he handled it very graciously, actually, considering the
circumstances.
GOLODRYGA: We learned a lot about golf in South Africa as well.
ASHER: Yes. I think -- I think he taught other world leaders a thing or two about how to handle a White House ambush, to be honest.
Mmusi Maimane, thank you so much. Always good to hear from you. We appreciate it.
GOLODRYGA: Thanks, Mmusi.
And you`ll want to stick around the next hour, South Africa`s Foreign Minister, Ronald Lamola, will join our colleague, Christiane Amanpour, for
more on the fallout of this meeting.
ASHER: All right. Still to come, the Pentagon accepts that controversial 747 from Qatar. What experts say it will take to convert the jet into the
next Air Force One?
GOLODRYGA: And dinner with President Trump. Some 200 investors are being invited to a private dinner with the U.S. president. Why critics and ethics
czars are crying foul, when we return.
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GOLODRYGA: The U.S. military is now in possession of that Qatari 747 that was given to the U.S. and is slated to become the new Air Force One for
Donald Trump.
[12:25:59]
But don`t expect the plane to be flying the President around anytime soon. Officials tell CNN, it could take two years to make all the security and
communications upgrades necessary for the plane to serve the President. And they say the upgrades could cost more than what the plane is actually
worth.
CNN`s national security correspondent, Natasha Bertrand, joins us now with more. Natasha, the president was facing incoming pressure from both
Democrats and Republicans about not accepting this plane. And yet, he did. What happens next?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, now, Bianna, the process begins of getting this plane retrofitted essentially and
upgraded so that the president can actually use it because, obviously, there are a number of security requirements that this plane will need
before it can transport the commander in chief of the United States.
And so that is going to be a very lengthy process. The Air Force told me that at this point, they`re preparing to work a contract to a defense
company that will be able to basically start this process of upgrading this jet, because this is a Qatari jet that, of course, comes from a foreign
government. This is not something that the United States Air Force is familiar with at this point. They`re going to have to work to make the U.S.
government comfortable with it carrying the president.
Now, of course, this has faced a lot of bipartisan criticism, not only because of the large amount of money and time it is going to take to make
this aircraft actually work to transport President Trump, but also because of the ethical questions here.
Our understanding, at this point, is that this jet is going to be provided to the United States pretty much free of charge. And the U.S. and the
Qataris have been for months now kind of going back and forth and trying to come up with a legally sound way of transferring this jet to the U.S.
because there is not going to be any cost associated with it.
And that is something that the Air Force, in particular, has been very surprised by because while they were going back and forth with different
people around the world, different clients of Boeing that might have an available aircraft that could be used for the president because the Air
Force One that Boeing was building is taking way too long and they wanted something faster, the Air Force was under the impression that they were
going to be purchasing a plane and not being given one as a gift.
And so the question that obviously comes from that is will the Qataris expect something in return from the United States? Those questions are all
unanswered as of right now.
President Trump though still touting this is a great deal for the U.S. saying that it`s a gift and it`s free of charge and that he is more than
willing to accept it. Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Natasha Bertrand, national security correspondent. Thank you.
ASHER: All right. The guests are anonymous, but they collectively spent about $148 million to purchase Trump branded meme coins.
GOLODRYGA: And now, some 200 crypto moguls will attend a private dinner billed as the most exclusive invitation in the world.
Now this happens today at President Trump`s private golf club just outside Washington, D.C. The top 25 coin holders will even get a private White
House tour from the president himself.
Now critics say it could potentially violate ethics norms and the U.S. Constitution.
Let`s bring in our numbers guy, Harry Enten. Harry, I was trying to think of a question for you, but you always just do your own thing. So there is
no point.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: You could ask me any question you want to ask me. I`m an open book, guys. I`ll even point out.
ASHER: And cue. Take it away.
ENTEN: On cue. On cue. I even redesigned my opening page. It`s first debut here in the beautiful hour with you guys.
All right. So let`s talk about this a little bit, all right? You know, obviously, you get that dinner. A few of those exclusive folks might in
fact get a nice little tour of the White House. And, of course, this is all revolving around the meme coin, the Trump meme coin.
And I want to note how much this is driven up the price of the meme coin since, of course, the contest was announced last month.
Look at this. Get this. Up 65 percent post that dinner announcement. My goodness gracious. If the idea of announcing this dinner was to drive up
the price of the coin successful. And I will note more than that that the price of the meme coin had been falling, had been falling previous.
Get this down 85 percent from the peak. So this is turn that meme coin right around. And, of course, it is also generated, get this, millions
alone in just transaction fees.
And, of course, two Trump organization affiliates hold 80 percent, 80 percent of the coin supply. So this is pretty gosh darn good for the Trump
affiliates just based upon the transaction fees alone.
Now you mentioned in that intro there obviously these charge -- these charges that maybe this might be a corrupt action, right? Do Americans
think that Donald Trump is corrupt? I think that this slide will sort of give it away. Trump`s net approval rating on corruption in mid-April before
the dinner was announced, he was at minus seven points. He was under water on that.
But look at where he is now. He`s at minus 12 points. So an even larger percentage of the Americans disapprove of Donald Trump on the issue of
corruption.
Now, in a previous segment, I had pointed out what Bianna, Zain was missing unfortunately, but she`s back now. Fantastic. There you go. See -- there
you go.
ASHER: I have a habit of that. I have a habit of that.
[12:30:01]
ENTEN: There you go, but it`s all good. We`re here together --
GOLODRYGA: We miss you.
ENTEN: We`re here together now as a happy family. Even pre-2024 election, voters thought that Donald Trump was corrupt.
And so you might be asking, how the devil did he win? This I think gives the game away, which is folks may think that Donald Trump is corrupt. But,
of course, you don`t vote in isolation. You vote for or against one or the other party, right?
So the net approval rating on corruption. I mentioned right now that Donald Trump`s at minus 12 points.
Look at where Joe Biden was in 2023. On the issue of corruption, his net approval rating was minus 29 points.
So even if folks think that Donald Trump is corrupt, he goes up against the competition that a lot of them think is just if not even more corrupt. And
that is how you end up with Donald Trump. And that is I think part of the reason why he thinks that he could get away with this meme coin despite the
charges that it might in fact be corrupt.
And now I throw it back to you two as a happy family, the trio that we are.
ASHER: Harry, what percentage of our audience do you think actually knows what a meme coin is? Define it.
GOLODRYGA: Or how it works. Or how it works.
ASHER: You can define it.
ENTEN: I would tell you that only about 10 to 20 percent of Americans are in cryptocurrency. Worldwide, I would assume that number is about similar.
I would say that there is a good 50 percent, at least to the audience that doesn`t know what a meme coin is. But it`s essentially a cryptocurrency,
right? And I don`t even understand what a cryptocurrency is. I mean, I do understand but it`s kind of a weird idea.
ASHER: (INAUDIBLE) person for this story, Harry. I think you`re assigned to do this one.
ENTEN: I`m always -- you know what the fact is? Numbers are numbers are numbers. And that --
ASHER: Yes.
ENTEN: -- my friends is always the thing that brings these together just like a segment with you two is always brought together perfectly around the
numbers and around the personality time.
ASHER: He`s like -- he`s like, I`m reporting a story and I have no idea what I`m talking about.
ENTEN: No. Oh come on. I know. I know what I`m -- look --
GOLODRYGA: You know. Listen, you are not --
ENTEN: I know what`s going on.
GOLODRYGA: -- just our numbers guy. You are our guy.
ENTEN: All I do is I invest my number -- my -- my investments are all in ETFs. OK? I don`t go into meme coins. I don`t go in a cryptocurrency. I
just like the S&P 500. It`s nice and safe.
GOLODRYGA: You`re like Warren Buffett. You`re a Warren Buffett. You invest on what you know.
ASHER: Slow and steady like Warren.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Harry Enten --
ENTEN: Slow and steady wins the race.
GOLODRYGA: Thank you, our guy.
ENTEN: Bye. Bye.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Coming up, a huge legislative win for the U.S. president, but Democrats say it`s a major loss for America. Ahead, we`ll
break down a sweeping tax and spending bill passed by the House.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:35:58]
ASHER: All right. It`s a big victory for U.S. President Donald Trump, but critics say it will devastate millions of Americans, most vulnerable
families, while still exploding the federal deficit.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Trump`s sweeping tax and spending bill is now headed to the Senate after narrowly passing the Republican controlled house earlier by
literally one vote. Talk about narrow.
Now, the controversial measure would flash nearly $1 trillion in funding for two of the nation`s main safety net programs, food stamps and Medicaid,
while making Trump`s 2017 tax breaks permanent.
ASHER: Yes. The bill also increases funding for border security and mass deportations and would raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion. House Speaker
Mike Johnson appeared visibly relieved after the votes were counted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): And after a long week and a long night and countless hours of work over the past year, a lot of prayer and a lot of
teamwork, my friends, it quite literally is again, morning in America. Isn`t it? All right. All right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Time now for "The Exchange." And we want to take a closer look at the bill and President Trump`s domestic policy agenda.
Joining us now is Molly Ball. She`s a senior political correspondent with "The Wall Street Journal." Molly, it`s good to see you.
So this tax bill is the centerpiece of President Trump`s domestic agenda. It goes to the Senate now. A number of economists, "The Economist" magazine
as well, say that the Senate should vote this down. I would imagine they were going to do that anyway in this current form and iteration. But the
impact that it has on vulnerable Americans and to the bond market and deficit here really raises the stakes.
Talk about what`s in this bill.
MOLLY BALL, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, the centerpiece of the bill is it`s a tax bill fundamentally, and it is
really a -- a -- a repeat of the major legislative accomplishment of Donald Trump`s first term, the 2017 tax cuts, which were temporary and now have
been made permanent.
There are some additions of other tax cuts, including some of the campaign trail promises that Trump made. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime. There`s
an alteration to the state and local tax deduction, which was important to a lot of moderate Republicans. There are also, as you mentioned, a lot of
cuts to safety net programs such as Medicaid and food stamps.
But I think, you know, it is important to emphasize that this isn`t finished because the Senate is going to have a lot to say about this bill.
And given that it passed the House so narrowly, anything that the Senate does to change that delicate balance of -- of what was given to the
conservatives and what was given to the moderates is going to make it harder to get through the House once again.
So this bill, this is a huge milestone for the Republican Party, a huge milestone for the Trump administration and House Speaker Mike Johnson, but
it isn`t passed the finish line yet.
ASHER: Yes. But just in terms of like having to navigate those competing interests from those in the more sort of conservative wing versus more in
the center, just talk to us about how surprised you. Even Chip Roy actually ended up saying, yes, it is.
How surprised were you, overall, that this bill managed to make it through the House?
BALL: I think for the House Republicans, they always saw that failure was not an option. And as many qualms as some Republicans, you mentioned the
conservative, the fiscal conservative from Texas Chip Roy, as many qualms as many -- as some conservatives had about this bill, they feared that it
would be worse if they didn`t pass it.
They feared that if -- if the House could not do essentially the one task it has set for itself all year, let`s not forget this bill also contains a
-- a -- a raised of the debt ceiling, which the Treasury Department said would have kicked in, in July, so that`s very important.
It does, however, as you mentioned, come against the backdrop of these economic indicators that are not looking so good, concerns about the
president`s tariffs, concerns in the bond market, concerns about a potential slowdown or even recession.
So while Republicans are -- are jubilant that they`ve managed to pass this -- this -- this part of their agenda, they are concerned about those
indicators on the horizon and about the -- the politics of this.
[12:40:10]
Because once this bill actually does get passed, then the campaign begins and it has already begun with Democrats accusing the Republicans of making
the centerpiece of their agenda, essentially a tax cut for the rich at the expense of the most vulnerable.
GOLODRYGA: Molly, let me ask you a twofer. One, are you hearing from Republicans just in terms of the timing of this bill that we know many of
them privately and publicly expressed some concern about the president`s tariff policies and the announcements there and how that was handled and
the impact that it had on the global economy that we`re still feeling the repercussions of because we`re just now still in a temporary freeze?
Are you hearing from Republicans that they would have preferred that the president addressed this tax bill first before tariffs?
And on the flip side, is there anything in this bill that you think Democrats would be tempted to support perhaps eliminating taxes on overtime
pay or tips?
BALL: Yes. In fact, there is bipartisan support for ending taxes on tips. And -- and the Senate recently did pass a bipartisan measure to that
effect.
However, all Democrats in the House voted against this bill. They are completely opposed to it and Republicans set out on this process from the
beginning using a process that allows them to pass a bill on a party line vote in the Senate where they don`t have the 60 votes that would be needed
to overcome a filibuster.
So it was always clear that this was going to be a partisan bill composed entirely of Republican priorities and not expecting to get any democratic
support.
So while there might be some things in here that if you took them out and put them on their own, a handful of Democrats might not be opposed to. In
aggregate, this is absolutely a -- a Republican bill.
And, you know, to your point about Republicans` blocks and qualms, there are a lot of Republicans who are concerned about the way this bill drives
up the deficit.
We`ve heard Republicans expressing concerns throughout this process about the way that this bill may kick millions of people off of their healthcare
benefits.
So a lot of Republicans are concerning the potential politics of this bill and about what`s happening in the economy.
But again, they felt that it would have been worse to do nothing. It would have been worse to tank this bill that they`ve been working on all year.
And it was that sense of momentum that since that they --
GOLODRYGA: Molly --
BALL: -- couldn`t -- well, I just said they had to do something that they wanted.
GOLODRYGA: Molly, I`m so sorry. Yes, thank you. I`m so sorry to cut you off. We are just going to go to live presser where we`re hearing from the
Israeli ambassador to the United States outside of where that attack took place at the Capitol Jewish Museum yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEITER: They spoke just 10 minutes ago. The president reaffirmed his commitment to a brute the violent anti-Semitism that has swept across
university campuses in this country.
It is imperative to understand that this is form of anti-Semitism. Anti- Semitism is not new. It`s as old as the Jewish people are. But this form of anti-Semitism takes on a new form. The person who shot these two young
people dead last night screamed free, free Palestine.
This is done in the name of a political agenda to eradicate the state of Israel. State of Israel is now fighting a war on seven fronts. This is the
eighth front. The war to demonize, delegitimize, to eradicate the right of the state of Israel to exist.
And people say Israel has a right to exist. I say, thank you very much. We`re not looking for anybody`s acknowledgement. Nobody says that Belgium
has the right to exist. Nobody says that South Africa has the right to exist. Israel has a right to exist, a right that goes back over 3,000
years.
Long before there was anything called Palestine as a geographic location, there was Israel, the people of Israel and the land of Israel. We`ve come
home. We plan to stay there. And we`re not going to be intimidated by the violence of those screaming on behalf of Palestine.
These were two young, beautiful people. Yaron and Sarah planned to be engaged next week in Jerusalem. Yaron bought an engagement ring this week.
He was taking his soon-to-be-bride to meet his parents who lived just outside of Jerusalem.
Their murder will not be in vain. People of Israel`s embassy in Washington will continue to serve the people of Israel and to bridge the friendship,
the deep of the friendship between the American people and the people of Israel.
[12:45:04]
We will not be deterred. We are resilient people. Israel`s resilient. The United States is resilient. Together, we`re going to stand off and defeat
this anti-Israelism and anti-Zionism, which parades around as something in the long lines of freedom seeking. This is not freedom seeking.
Hamas is a death cult. They declared war. On behalf of Iran, and the ring of fire in order to eradicate us. And this individual here last night was
an extension of that ring of fire. They will be defeated. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shall I take some questions?
MARQUARDT: Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. And, of course, I`m very sorry for the loss of your two staffers. I was wondering if you could comment on
whether you`ve learned anything, either from the Israeli security services or the American law enforcement, about the writings of the suspect and
perhaps any connection to activists or terror groups.
And then more broadly, could you comment on how anti-Semitism around the world is affected because of Prime Minister Netanyahu`s war aims of
continuing the war to eradicate Hamas? Thank you.
LEITER: We don`t have any further information. I was here last night with Washington`s chief of police, the mayor of Washington, and of course, all
the law enforcement agencies.
The suspect continues to be under investigation. I don`t have an update as to the extent to which he was working alone or with others, or whether or
not he has any contorted manifesto or something along those lines.
I reject your question or the insinuation that anti-Semitism is rising because of Israel`s defense of its country. Hamas declared war. Israel is
responding to that war. We will not allow Hamas time to exist on our borders. We will not allow an Iranian proxy to exist -- to exist on our
borders. We had our people slaughtered. It`s not going to happen again.
Hamas has to be destroyed, will be destroyed the very same way that the Nazis were destroyed. These are new Nazis, and we`re going to defeat them.
Anti-Semitism is on the rise not because of Israel`s responding, but because of countries like France who are under this circumstance, now,
tomorrow, plan to propose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
So the French, in their contorted morality, under the government of Macron, is going to declare October 7th Palestine Independence Day. This is a
contorted sense of morality. They should be ashamed of themselves. And we`re going to oppose that in the area of diplomacy as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: All right. You`ve been listening to the Israeli ambassador to the United States outside of the Capital Jewish Museum where just 12 hours
ago, two young Israeli staffers at the embassy were murdered as they were exiting an event at the museum.
And the investigation continues. The suspect has been apprehended and -- and a lot of investigation into the manifest that had been found, the fact
that he said that he did this to Free Gaza and was shouting free -- free Palestine.
The -- the ambassador said that the prime minister`s office, that Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump discussed the murders last night.
And that the president once again expressed sorrow at the ambassador at times, getting quite emotional and defiant in Israel`s fight on a number of
fronts against terrorism and saying that the fight against anti-Semitism is now yet an additional front that Israel is conducting. So he`s taking
questions. They`re both from American journalists and Israeli, but obviously this investigation is just beginning.
ASHER: All right. We`ll have much more news after the break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(FIREWORKS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[12:50:15]
GOLODRYGA: The fireworks at Orlando`s newest theme park are epic and for good reason, presenting Epic Universe, the $7 billion investment by
Comcast.
ASHER: It has rides galore and five theme worlds from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to How to Train Your Dragon. Epic Universe celebrated its
grand opening Wednesday night and opened to the public today.
GOLODRYGA: Our Natasha Chen drew the lucky straw and got a sneak peek at all the fun.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Epic Universe is one of the largest, most expensive theme parks ever built. We`re getting a sneak preview, so come
on.
I love the details all the way on the top balcony. There are businesses with signs all the way up there.
CHEN (voice-over): Here`s 1920s Paris from the Fantastic Beast franchise where, just like at Universal`s other Harry Potter areas, you can try your
wand technique.
CHEN: Ventus. All right. I`m a muggle, apparently. I just can`t.
CHEN (voice-over): But then you`ll time travel to the 1990s via Metrofloo.
No one was allowed to film on the rides nor during shows at this preview, but...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re combining so many different and new technologies to bring this adventure to life at a skill never seen before.
RYAN CLAVIN, THE DIS UNLIMITED UNIVERSAL EDITION: Those are like the largest sets I`ve ever seen in like a theme park attraction. It was crazy.
CHEN: This is my buddy Ryan Clavin, otherwise known as Ryno, who hosts a Universal show for the DIS Unlimited.
CLAVIN: This is sort of a very good example of why like we love theme parks, like why we come to theme parks to kind of get into these franchises
and, you know, books or movies or whatever it may be that we love.
This is really that like -- I mean, where else can you literally step into a movie like that?
CHEN: I feel like especially this is for every one of those kids, like us, who waited at midnight for the release of a Harry Potter book.
CHEN (voice-over): The other major attraction in Epic Universe is Monsters Unchained: the Frankenstein Experiment.
Universal says their team invented new technology and secured patents for Epic Universe attractions, including special animating effects, ride design
and robotics.
Through another portal is The Isle of Berk, the first time How to Train Your Dragon has been turned into a theme park space.
CHEN: The untrainable dragon was a show that we saw. There was a dragon flying over our heads and like breathing and like winking at us, right?
CLAVIN: I think the show`s like do not miss like when hiccup and toothless fly out and over the audience, I`m -- like, I got like goosebumps and
started getting very emotional. I really, really liked that.
[12:55:04]
CHEN: Yes.
CLAVIN: Big fan.
CHEN (voice-over): And guests will get to meet Toothless the dragon too.
CHEN: She`s like breathing and vibrating. Oh, my gosh.
Finally, Super Nintendo World, similar to what`s at Universal Studios Hollywood, but a little bigger with a couple more rides.
CHEN: You can use a power-up band here. It`s like a slap bracelet. And it records points for different activities around here. So, here we go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello. We did it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: All right. Well, that looked like a lot of fun for Natasha. And that is it for "ONE WORLD." I`m Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I`m Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. "AMANPOUR" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
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