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One World with Zain Asher

Russia Launches Largest Aerial Assault of Three-Year War; As Trump Tests Presidential Power Can Anyone Stop Him; Iranian Spokesperson: Trump's Threats "Not Helpful"; Trump Delays 50 Percent Tariff Threat Against European Union; Trump Delays 50 Percent Tariffs on EU Imports Until July 9; Jewish American WWII Soldiers Get Headstones with Star of David. Aired 11a- 12p ET

Aired May 26, 2025 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: President Trump lashing out at Russian President Vladimir Putin. "One World" starts right now. The escalation

between Trump and Putin comes after a major Russian attack killed dozens in Ukraine over the weekend.

Plus, Trump pressing pause, another set of tariffs, this time on the European Union. And some of America's fallen service members during World

War II buried overseas under crosses are finally getting the burials of their Jewish Faith. Live from New York. I'm Zain Asher. Bianna is off

today. You are watching "One World".

This hour, President Trump is commemorating Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery, where hundreds of thousands of U.S. service members are

buried. He will -- his visit rather will include a traditional laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We will bring you that as soon

as it happens. He's also expected deliver remarks about 20 or so minutes from now.

All right, President Donald Trump says that Russian President Vladimir Putin has, in his words, gone absolutely crazy. Trump's comments on social

media come after Russia launched its biggest drone and missile attack of the three-year war over the weekend. Dozens of people lost their lives in

the aerial assault. You're looking at the aftermath of those attacks, which Trump says must stop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm not happy with what Putin is doing. He's killing a lot of people, and I don't know what

the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time. Always gotten along with him, but he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I

don't like it at all, OK. We're in the middle of talking, and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don't like it at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: The Kremlin, meantime, is downplaying Trump's comments as what it calls emotional reactions. Donald Trump also had harsh words for Ukraine's

President after Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted the silence from the world leaders over the weekend attack. President Trump says Zelenskyy's not doing

his country any favors by talking the way he does.

Nic Robertson joins us live now from London to add some perspective. Nic, we all know that Donald Trump is known for being very unpredictable.

Obviously, one minute, he's praising Vladimir Putin, appearing to side with Russia over Ukraine. You've seen that many times now. He's saying that, in

his words, Putin has gone absolutely crazy. Just walk us through what the Kremlin makes of those comments specifically?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, Donald Trump was speaking after President Zelenskyy criticized, essentially, him and Western

allies for not speaking out about this massive drone strike, the one that came Friday into Saturday, and then the biggest one ever, Saturday into

Sunday.

So, Zelenskyy, in a way, precipitated President Trump's comments about him, at least, and President Putin's actions by this massive aerial bombardment,

367 combined missile and drone strikes Saturday into Sunday, and the way that the Kremlin responded to President Trump.

We got a taste of that today from the Kremlin Spokesman, but I think the real taste of the Kremlin's response came Sunday night into Monday in

Ukraine, 355 drones. That's the biggest drone attack on Ukraine since the war began coming the night after the biggest combined aerial assault.

So, these -- it's a very significant action, not by words, but by deed, by President Putin, and then, of course, his Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov at the

Kremlin saying that the actions were simply President Putin acting in Russia's national interests, and then offloading the blame partly on

President Trump for his comments, emotional overload, is the way that he described it.

It's obviously not going to sit well with President Trump. But the real question comes down right now is, what is President Trump going to do about

this? The signals have been there for his allies to see. The signals Putin's intent has been there for Ukraine to bear witness to and President

Zelenskyy to speak up about at the weekend.

So, the question is, is President Trump coming to the same realization as his European partners in supporting Ukraine, a different realization? And

if so, what will he do about it? But Russia President Putin the Kremlin are very clear in what they're doing. They're continuing to ramp up massive

attacks, aerial attacks, the biggest yet on the civilian population of Ukraine.

ASHER: All right. Nic Robertson, live for us there. Thank you so much. There has been another pause in Donald Trump's trade war with the U.S.,

President once again walking back his threats.

[11:05:00]

Trump has agreed to delay the rollout of a 50 percent tariff on European goods by more than a month until July 9th. As recently as Friday, the

president said he was not looking for a deal with the EU and that the tariff rate would go into effect next Sunday. But he changed his mind after

having what he described as a very nice call with European Commission President Ursula Von Der Layen and he says that negotiations will begin

soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And she asked for an extension in the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation. July 9th would be the date.

That was the date she requested. Could we move it from June 1st to July 9th? And I agreed to do that, and that she said, we will rapidly get

together and see if we can work something out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: CNN's Anna Stewart joins us live now from London. So clearly this was negotiation tactic by the president that essentially worked. I mean, he

threatened them with a June 1st deadline, and then obviously that made the Europeans very nervous. Ursula Von Der Leyen called him and got him to

extend that deadline until July 9th.

Just walk us through what needs to happen over the next seven weeks? And what might some of the key sort of sticking points between the U.S. and the

EU be Anna?

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what is really unclear here is exactly what has been gained by yet another instance of President Trump

making a big threat and then backing down. One -- Journalist has talked about it being the taco trade. Trump always chickens out, and it's

something that markets are certainly getting used to.

At this stage, it's very unclear whether anything's been gained in terms of the actual trade negotiations between the EU and the U.S. Now, the U.S.

does not like that. It has a trade deficit with the EU. It actually thinks its deficit in terms of goods is much bigger than the EU thinks it does.

They disagree on the numbers even there.

And the EU actually imports way more U.S. services than it exports, so they feel like they have a surplus there. So, there's some really nitty gritty

big numbers to consider. You know, is one of the biggest it is the EU's biggest trading partner. So, it's significant trade and the threat here is,

if trade negotiations don't go well, no longer will they be looking at a 20 percent tariff in terms of exporting to the U.S. but actually it could be

50 percent.

So significant, a significant increase, in terms of that. The EU has made very clear those Zain throughout all of this. But if negotiations don't go

well, it's not just bad for the bloc, it's also bad for the U.S., because they've already prepared huge packages of tariffs to retaliate with, and of

course, those would surely increase you would think, if they were looking at 50 percent tariffs.

So, unclear what's being gained. We know that talks will be ongoing. We know, for instance, the EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic is speaking on

a phone call with Howard Lutnick, the Commerce Secretary in the U.S. So perhaps more is being discussed.

In the meantime, we just had a sort of mini market meltdown month Friday into Monday, but actually not even really a meltdown. I don't think markets

are reacting to the same level that we saw much earlier in the year, say, for so called Liberation Day.

ASHER: And worth noting that markets here in the U.S. are closed today for the Memorial Day Holiday. Just in terms of what is at stake for the

Americans here. I mean, you mentioned there's been so much back and forth, so much -- you know mind changing about these tariffs. Tariffs set to go

into effect one day, and then Donald Trump changed his mind, he extends deadlines, et cetera, et cetera.

But the Americans really do need to get trade deals under their belt. Right now, we've only really seen a deal with the UK at this point. There's a lot

hanging in the balance for the U.S. economy here.

STEWART: Yeah, and if you consider that the trade deal that the U.S. reached for the UK really wasn't as broad as anyone was really expecting.

It wasn't that significant in terms of the nitty gritty of the trade deal. The EU as a bloc is the U.S.'s biggest trading partner. It's significant.

It matters for U.S. consumers.

It will make a difference to their pockets if tariffs do ratchet up. And you've got to remember that currently there is already a 10 percent tariff

on anything being imported to the U.S. from the EU. So that is already happening right now. There is already an increased cost to doing business

with the EU, such an important trading partner, it is in the interest of both parties to reach a deal here.

And what appears to be happening over the last few days is this is the art of the deal, big threats back downs. The deadline for all the talks hasn't

actually changed the extension, so called extension the EU has been given it's July the 9th, that is exactly what the deadline was with the 90-day

pause.

All right, Anna Stewart live for us there. Thank you so much. All right, as Donald Trump causes global uncertainty in the markets with his tariff

threats, he's also testing the balance of presidential power at home in what critics are calling a challenge to the rule of law in America.

Since taking office in January, Trump has launched attacks on institutions, on businesses and on individuals that he considers hostile. Frustrated by

judicial rulings against his executive order, as the administration has lashed out at the courts, even arresting a federal judge. Trump has

effectively shut down agencies authorized by Congress, cutting staff and programs in his wide-ranging effort to dismantle the government.

[11:10:00]

And the U.S. President has gone after higher education, including Harvard and Columbia, trying to force institutions to capitulate to his sweeping

demands. I'm joined live now by Ron Brownstein, a CNN Senior Political Analyst and Bloomberg Opinion Columnist. His new analysis piece on cnn.com

is titled as "Trump aims to expand presidential authority. Can anyone stop him"?

That is the big question, Ron. Ron so first of all, appreciate you joining us on a holiday weekend. But one of the big questions I think a lot of

people have, is this idea that you have a U.S. judge essentially blocking Donald Trump from expelling international students from Harvard.

However, when you look at the trajectory of the Trump Administration over the past few months, it is clear that the rule of law doesn't always really

matter. Trump has oftentimes gone against what the judicial rulings have been. Based on that, what protections are there in place to sort of

protect, I guess international students at institutions like Harvard right now?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, look, I think we are discovering that all of the intricate mechanisms that were built into the

Constitution are added after to guard against the arbitrary abuse of presidential power are flimsier than most people thought, and really depend

on the people in the other institutions to stand up and defend them.

You know, the maybe one of the most famous lines in the documents that were written, called "The Federalist" to defend the Constitution when we were

debating whether to ratify it was ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The founders' vision was that Congress and the courts would

zealously guard their institutional prerogatives against the president who was kind of overreaching his authority.

And instead, you know, what we have seen in modern America is that the partisan loyalties have become more important than the institutional

loyalties. Very clear in the Trump Presidency, Congress has stood aside as has stood aside -- as he has -- you know, appropriated all of this power

that traditionally should be conscious, including, by the way, tariffs.

I mean, which he's doing through emergency authority rather than legislation. The one barrier that there has been has been a lot of these

lower court rulings stopping him. But as you know, the administration has pushed right up to the edge of openly defying some of these lower courts.

And the Supreme Court has sent very mixed signals so far that six-member Republican majority on the court, they have slowed him in some areas, but

by and large, Zain, they have a very expansive view of the reach of presidential power. They signalled that again last week in a ruling

allowing him to dismiss some appointees from independent agencies.

And it is very unclear how far they will go in trying to stop him in this effort to expand presidential power in all directions, I think, to a degree

that we have not seen previously.

ASHER: I'm wondering how much of all this, the sort of crisis that's taking place at Harvard right now surprises you? Because a lot of people initially

were praising Harvard for standing up to the administration, but if you look at how things have turned out, I mean, obviously the Trump

Administration initially started off accusing Harvard of not doing enough to combat anti-Semitism.

And then saying, listen, you need to give us the names of all your foreign students. And you know, there were certain red lines that Harvard was not

willing to cross. When you think about the fact that you then had the administration say, listen, we're going to take away your funding. We're

going to take away billions of dollars in federal funding.

We're going to take away your taxes and status. I mean, that is one thing. It's a whole another ball game to go after international students

themselves. International students who literally have not done anything wrong, who are caught in the middle of all of this? How much of that

surprises you here, Ron?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think, you know, I think this is across the board, the administration has pushed to the outer edge of the degree to which people,

observers thought they might go in trying to weaponize the federal governments against those that Trump considers impediments to his plans, or

just on any given day, you know, an opponent.

I mean, you know, just look at the last few days, right? I mean, threatens Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen on social media. Threatens a specific

U.S. company with a punishing tariff Apple if they don't do what he wants in terms of moving more production of the iPhone to the U.S. may be a

laudable goal.

But Zain try to imagine what we will be hearing from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or the Business Roundtable or the National Association of

Manufacturers, if a Democratic President had made a similar threat against an American company? They'd be talking about a violation of free

enterprise. They'd be calling it socialist or communist.

And so, I think what you're seeing across the board is Trump sensing that there is only limited resist. There's no resistance in Congress. It's

uncertain how much resistance there will be in the courts? And he is going further, certainly than any previous president in trying to use the federal

government against institutions in civil society that he views as impediments.

[11:15:00]

There's been a kind of a lack of a coordinated response from universities, much less, you know, all the elements of civil society that face these

threats. And as a result, Trump, if nothing else, is a great student of human weakness. He is pushing on further.

ASHER: And one of the things that I -- you know before you go, I do want to touch upon is this idea of -- you know Trump hosting that gala dinner last

week for the top purchases of his Meme Coin, many of whom, many of the attendees were foreign. And you know, a lot of his political opponents,

Democrats branded it as nakedly corrupt. What checks and balances are there to prevent that kind of financial abuse of power, Ron?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, again, I mean -- you know, we are discovering that the checks and balances that we thought were there are flimsier than then we --

you know the many believed and really depend on institutions standing up. I mean, clearly -- you know this -- as I said, this was something the

founders of the U.S. grappled with a lot.

And they thought Congress would be the ultimate check against a president openly trading on his office for personal enrichments. I mean, they put

emoluments right in the Constitution itself, the president controls the executive branch, which makes it very hard, impossible to imagine him being

prosecuted.

The remedy would be some combination of Congressional oversight that might create public pressure, and ultimately, of course, impeachment as the -- as

kind of the final weapon. Now I think people will be challenging some of his actions in court, and we -- again we will see how far the courts go.

But ultimately, you know, all of these institutional restraints, I think, are proving more porous than many analysts and experts had hoped. And

really what's left is for the public, more public being mobilized and clearly saying this kind of behavior is unacceptable -- you know and we'll

see whether that opposition develops to some extent, Zain.

This is self-reinforcing, right, because the fear of retribution, in many ways, the abuse the excess, prevents voices being raised to protest the

excess.

ASHER: I mean -- and yeah, there are certain things that voters care about more. I mean, obviously, when tariffs hurt your pocketbook and there's

inflation and rising prices, Americans definitely care about that. I'm not sure how much they care about the president hosting a gala dinner. You

know, for the top purchases of his Meme Coin, for example. There's just so much -- go ahead, go ahead.

BROWNSTEIN: Really quick before I go. Absolutely, the -- you know people in the election put their pocketbook above their concerns about Trump's

ethics, or what he might mean for the rule of law, but it -- but I think those concerns very clearly in polls, have not been eliminated. They're

below the surface.

As long as people feel like he's making their life better, they will stay submerged. If people don't feel like there -- he is making their life

better, which currently they don't, I think that gives them more room to resurface.

ASHER: All right, Ron Brownstein, live for us there. Thank you so much. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend. Appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks Zain.

ASHER: All right, still to come, Iran says it could survive if nuclear talks, if -- with the U.S., end without striking a deal where the two

countries stand after another round of negotiations just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:20:00]

ASHER: U.S. President Donald Trump is optimistic after the U.S. and Iran wrapped up another round of nuclear talks. Friday's meeting Rome was the

fifth time negotiators came together. Oman, which is mediating those talks, says there was some but not conclusive progress, while Trump suggested on

Sunday, the meetings are moving in the right direction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We had some very good talks with Iran yesterday and today. And let's see what happens. But I think we could have some good news on the Iran

front, having to do with nuclear. We've had some very, very good talks with Iran. And I don't know if I'll be telling you anything good or bad over the

next two days, but I have a feeling I might be telling you something good. We've had some real progress, serious progress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: All right, let's bring Fred Pleitgen, who is following that part of the story from Tehran. Just talk to us about what Iran is saying about

these talks because the issue of enrichment was key this time around.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yeah, it was keen around -- key around this time around, this time and this time

around, and remains key as well. And something that the Iranians continue to say is they say that they are willing to compromise on many fronts, but

they also say that enrichment is a right that they have and that they will continue to have, and not something that they are willing to step away

from.

It's been quite interesting, though, over the past couple of days, and certainly over the past couple of weeks, as these negotiations have been

going on Zain that the Iranians have been saying that they're quite pessimistic about these talks. The Supreme Leader, of course, said that he

does not believe that they will necessarily come to a positive conclusion.

But it seems as though right now, the Iranians also a little more upbeat, because they say now, they feel the Trump Administration after the last

round of talks that happened this weekend in Rome, understands them better than they did before. Now I was able to speak to the Spokesman for Iran's

Foreign Ministry today, and here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ESMAIL BAGHAEI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: If the intention is to make sure that Iran's nuclear program would not be weaponized, I think

that's something that we could simply do it. But if the intention is to deprive Iranians of their right to offer peaceful nuclear energy, I think

that would be very problematic, to the extent that I think it would really challenge the whole process.

PLEITGEN: Do you think the Trump Administration and negotiator Witkoff have acknowledged that understand that?

BAGHAEI: The fact that so far, we have continued our talks, means that we understand there is certain level of understanding that Iran cannot, under

any circumstances, give up its right to peaceful nuclear energy, including enrichment.

PLEITGEN: How do you think a compromise can be reached.

BAGHAEI: I think if really there is will, there is way. There is not only one way, there are so many ways to take care of that. As far as we are

concerned, because we know our nuclear program is absolutely peaceful, and we have committed ourselves to make sure that the program will remain

peaceful.

PLEITGEN: President Trump also seems to insinuate that the alternative to an agreement could be military action by the U.S. and Israel. Do you feel

that pressure in the negotiations? And how does Iran feel about such threats?

BAGHAEI: That would be certainly not helpful. You know, Iranians would not be conducive to any sort of pressure. We have proved so many times for the

past century and beyond that that Iranians would not respond positively to any sort of coercion or pressure. So, when it comes to using that language,

Iranians will come with one voice, and we will certainly defend our national security.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: Where there is a will, there are ways, the spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry telling me earlier today, as we just saw in that

interview. And one of the other things that we also spoke about this was very important, actually, to the Iranians Zain, is that they were quite

angry and disappointed.

They said that some of the message coming from the Trump Administration, specifically from President Trump's chief negotiator, Steve Witkoff,

apparently saying different things in the meetings that was then said publicly.

[11:25:00]

Of course, the U.S. publicly saying that they would not tolerate Iranian enrichment of uranium on Iranian soil. The Iranians saying that for them,

that was a red line. But they said the last round of talks in Rome, U.S.'s position was much clearer, and they also felt that the negotiations

themselves happened in a much more professional atmosphere than they did before.

So, one of the things we can sense on the ground here is that the Iranians certainly appear to be a bit more upbeat about these negotiations than

maybe they were before that last round of talk that happened this past weekend in Rome, Zain.

ASHER: All right, Fred Pleitgen live for us there. Thank you so much. All right, now you're looking at live pictures here of an Annual March marking

Israel's capture of East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War. The March is frequently attended by far-right Israelis, and has often raised tension

in the city.

And it comes as an Israeli military official actually tells CNN that Israel plans to occupy about 75 percent of Gaza within two months. And the Israeli

military issues evacuation orders for most of the Southern and a large portion of the Eastern part of the Enclave ahead of what it's calling an

unprecedented attack.

Overnight, Israeli airstrikes struck a school sheltering civilians in Gaza City, killing at least 20 people, according to local authorities, who say

most of them, there were women and children. Israel is claiming that it was targeting a Hamas and commander control center. It's all happening amid the

backdrop of an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe that exports want -- experts warn is putting the Gaza population at critical risk of famine.

The UN says that Israel is allowing just a fraction of the necessary aid into the besieged territory. We'll have much more on what's happening on

the ground between Israel and Gaza from our Jeremy Diamond, who's going to be joining us from Tel Aviv during the next hour of "One World". And

President Trump is observing this Memorial Day with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery to remember Americans who died while serving their

country. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Laying wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

[11:30:00]

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: All right, you have just been looking at live pictures for Arlington National Cemetery, where President Trump, Vice President, J.D. Vance and

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were -- particularly President Trump participating in a wreath laying ceremony, laying wreath at the Tomb of the

Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

Later on, he's going to be speaking at the Amphitheatre there, probably in the next few minutes. This is obviously to honor the soldiers who have been

killed in the line of duty, soldiers who have been killed serving in the U.S., armed services, armed forces, rather. And these are live pictures for

you. We'll have a break, and we'll be right back on the other side of this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:35:00]

ASHER: Welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher in New York. Here are some of the headlines we are watching for you today. President Trump says

that Vladimir Putin has gone in his words absolutely crazy. He was reacting to the massive Russian aerial assault on Ukraine over the weekend. Russia

downplayed Trump's comments as an emotional reaction.

Four people have been arrested in North Korea over a failed launch of a new warship. This satellite image shows most of the ship covered with the dew,

blue turbulent at the launch site last Wednesday, the 5000-ton destroyer slid prematurely into the water, crushing its hull. Leader Kim Jong-Un

called it a criminal act and vowed to punish those responsible.

King Charles is headed to Canada today for a highly symbolic visit. Charles will open Parliament in Ottawa on Tuesday. The last time a British monarch

did that was actually his mother, the Late Queen Elizabeth II, 68 years ago. The visit is being seen as Charles showing support for Canada after

President Trump's recent suggestion to annex the country as the 51st American state.

Donald Trump is delaying crippling tariffs on the European Union. Trump spoke to the Head of the EU on Sunday. After the conversation, he said he

would put off 50 percent tariffs on EU products until July 9th. That gives the two sides more time to negotiate a more favorable trade deal.

Form more on analysis on this let's bring in Justin Wolfers, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan. Justin, of

course, I can rely on you to work on a public holiday. Thank you so much. Appreciate you being with us.

So just in terms of the back and forth that the EU has been through, and obviously the deadline we heard last week was going to be June 1st for

these 50 percent tariffs, not to mention the reciprocal tariffs that are currently still on pause. Now, Donald Trump is pausing the 50 percent

tariffs and extending the deadline to July 9th, because obviously he spoke to Ursula Von Der Leyen.

There's been so much back and forth in all of this. I don't blame anyone in the audience who is finding it really difficult to keep up. But I think a

lot of people are asking, what on earth is the point of all of this, Justin?

JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: Yeah, it's like a toddler with the TV remote control.

ASHER: I love your analogies. I love them. I wait for them. I was like, where's he going to go with this? I love I love your analogies.

WOLFERS: I'm not trying to be funny, mate. I'm trying to make sense of the world. You know and it is -- my young Matilda. She used to pick up the TV

remote and she'd start to push buttons, and then something would attract her attention and hold her attention for a couple of minutes.

But never longer than that, when she was that young, and then she'd push a few more. And let me help the viewers at home make sense of, or at least

understand what happened. Hold on. He Trump raised the tariffs, and then he paused that raise, and he paused that pause, and then he paused, that pause

of the pause.

ASHER: (LAUGHTER)

WOLFERS: -- if that felt bad to keep track of, thank goodness that you're not trying to do business with Europe right now. Because that is the sort

of crazy math that real businesses are trying to battle with right now for no reason whatsoever. So, I want to give you the history.

For decades we had low and stable tariffs with Europe, few things that each side didn't like. Liberation Day, he says 20 percent seven days later, he

says 10 percent and there's a 90-day pause. We get halfway through the 90- day pause, and he says 50 percent the pause is off.

We get three days later, and he reinstates the pause and says back to 10 percent. So, when they're still waiting for the pause to win, which is July

9th, and none of us know what the state of trade will be between the U.S. and Europe, then. I can't imagine a world which anyone can think this helps

any part of anyone's economy.

[11:40:00]

ASHER: But if you're the Trump Administration, I think the strategy is relatively simple in that he is trying to get as many deals with as many

sorts of strategic trading partners as quickly as possible. Obviously, there are a lot of you like yourself who think that this was pointless to

begin with. However, the clock is ticking, right? They've got a trade deal with the UK. They need one --

WOLFERS: -- scorecard. Let's do it.

ASHER: Go ahead, go ahead.

WOLFERS: So, seven days later, says, I'm just kidding. I didn't actually want tariffs. I wanted leverage for bargains. I'm going to do bargains with

192 other countries. We fast forward a couple of weeks, he says, I'm going to do 90 deals in 90 days, which, of course lose 102 countries out in the

cold. We have a deal then that's announced with the United Kingdom, whose final sentence is, both parties agree this is not a binding legal

agreement. So that's zero.

ASHER: Very watered-down deal as well.

WOLFERS: A few days later, we have a deal with China. That deal is both countries agree to talk.

ASHER: Right.

WOLFERS: That's great. And then we're all out of deals. And then what's best, by the way, is recently imposed. And then by the oh -- sorry I missed

a part, we're not going to get 90 deals in 90 days, because it turns out, trying to talk to 90 people sometimes really hard. So, we're just going to

send you a letter.

We're not going to have a talk. We're going to send you a later. And in the midst of all that, the official reason that he's angry with the EU is

because he thinks they've been uncooperative in trying to come to a trade agreement.

ASHER: And also, this idea that the -- this is -- I'm just saying, devil's advocate for you, also this idea that the U.S. has a $200 billion trade

deficit with the EU that is what the Trump Administration is saying is part of the problem. Just talk to our audience about why deficits don't

necessarily matter as much as some might think as an economist?

WOLFERS: Right. Let me give you two ways of describing it. So, the first is a very literal thing. When we say a trade deficit, what do we mean? It

means we buy more stuff from Europe than they buy from us. So, it means, if what we're doing is tracking dollar bills, we have more of our dollars

going that way than come back in. We the U.S., right?

So that's a trade deficit. But let me point something out. Every time I send money to Europe. I do it because I'm buying something. I might be

buying a Lacoste Shirt. I might be buying a bottle of wine. I might be buying manufacturing equipment. So, it's also true that they're sending us

more stuff than we're sending them.

So, it means, in terms of stuff, the stuff that actually makes you happy, that makes life richer and more exciting, we have a trade surplus. We're

getting more stuff from them than they're getting from us. All we're doing is sending them pieces of paper. So yes, we have a trade depth. We also

have a trade surplus, if you look at it in stuff rather than dollars.

Second way of thinking about it. This I think, is the simplest. We economists are firmly of the view that what matters is not your terms of

trade with one other trading partner. Let me give you an example. When I go to my local grocery store, every time I go there, I buy some stuff from

them, and they buy nothing from me.

I say, would you like to buy some economics knowledge? And they say, we have no need first of all. So, I buy a lot of stuff from them. They buy

nothing from me. But that's OK, because it turns out I go to my job at the University of Michigan and I sell them economic stuff.

So, I saw I got unbalanced trade with the University of Michigan, and I've got unbalanced trade with my grocery store, and that's all I can because it

all works out in total.

ASHER: Yeah.

WOLFERS: So, the thing that obsesses the president has no genuine economic meaning at all, and it's not me saying that that's the entire economics

profession.

ASHER: Well, I would happily buy your economic knowledge just at any time. Just in terms of the 50 percent threat. I mean, who knows if that's

actually going to go into effect? But what is at stake for the Eurozone economy if 50 percent tariffs were to get into effect?

WOLFERS: Yeah, and people are really worried about this. So, because the European Union and the U.S. are both highly developed countries with very

skilled, very high wage workers, if you add 50 percent of the -- to the cost of stuff from Europe, that's prohibitively high. It's basically an

embargo.

It basically says, stop loading stuff on the ships Europe we're not buying. And it says, shut down the American ships that were going to go to Europe

if they would have put on retaliatory tariffs, which they've not said. It's not yet clear whether they would. So, there's an embargo.

So, you might immediately think, oh boy, that means Americans are going to do without French wine. Sure, it means that, but it means a lot more. One

of the most important things we buy the United States from Europe, in fact, is precision manufacturing equipment.

So, if you want, you're setting up a new super factory, and you want to figure out, how do you get the soup into the can? That's going to be a

machine that you will have bought from Germany or Italy, or one of the other fine manufacturing equipment providers that come from Europe.

So, if I were in the U.S. and President Trump had said, go and start new factories, and I'm halfway through building a new factory right now, I

would stop.

[11:45:00]

I would call the foreman and say, stop creating the factory. Because we just learned the cost of buying new machinery for this factory just went up

by 50 percent. You've made what had been an economic investment, uneconomic. We're not going to do it anymore.

So, in fact, what Trump is doing is directly hurting American manufacturers, and that's the thing to understand. Here is any entrepreneur

in any country around the world can buy precision manufacturing equipment from Germany or Italy without paying a 50 percent up charge, except those

in the United States. So that's competitive disadvantage.

ASHER: Justin, I love having you break this stuff down for us. We're very grateful because you're entertaining as well. That's the best part about

it.

WOLFERS: Mate it is the president gives me a lot to work with. Economists aren't.

ASHER: You have a lot of material.

WOLFERS: Yeah.

ASHER: University of Michigan Professor Justin Wolfers thank you so much. Appreciate it.

WOLFERS: It's pleasure.

ASHER: All right, still to come, as Americans remember the service members who gave the ultimate sacrifice Memorial Day. Three Jewish American

soldiers who died while helping to liberate Italy in World War II, finally get the memorial and the grave markers of their faith. We have that story

next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: All right, as Americans remember service members who gave the ultimate sacrifice this Memorial Day. Three Jewish service members who were

killed in World War II and buried in Italy are now receiving the honor that they deserve. Two other soldiers' graves were marked with crosses, even

though they were both Jewish. But now the headstones have been changed the Star of David. CNN's Dana Bash was there for the emotional ceremonies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In this cemetery outside Rome lay more than 7800 Americans killed in battle liberating Italy during World

War II. Now buried alongside rows of beautiful Roman pines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Faith in each other --

BASH (voice-over): And on this day, families of three soldiers traveled to Italy from the U.S. to honor their sacrifice.

RABBI JACOB J. SCHACTER, PRESIDENT, OPERATION BENJAMIN: Today, we are setting the historical record straight. We will give them the marker that

is appropriate for their faith.

BASH (voice-over): More than 80 years after they died correct inadvertent errors, burial beneath Latin crosses instead of Jewish stars.

[11:50:00]

SHALOM LAMM, CHIEF HISTORIAN & CO-FOUNDER, OPERATION BENJAMIN: We're all here in some way to honor those who have rested here for all of these many

years under an incorrect identity.

BASH (voice-over): All thanks to the Nonprofit Operation Benjamin, which works with the American Battle Monuments Commission. Shalom Lamm is Chief

Historian.

BASH: Many of the servicemen who are buried under crosses, even though they're Jewish, it's because they didn't want to show that they were Jewish

on their dog tags.

LAMM: Right. There was a real fear of being captured. And if you were captured by the Germans in particular, that was really terrifying. These

are not purposeful. These were true errors. America really tried to get it right, but they naturally missed some.

And our job is to come back after all these decades and find those guys. It has happened again and again and again that I introduce people to someone

who is just a shadowy figure in their memory. They were real, flesh and blood human beings. And we know that story.

BASH (voice-over): Stories like that of Technician Fourth Grade Ben Bernstein, his nieces and nephews finally learned details of their uncle's

sacrifice. A member of the Elite First Special Service Force killed by a Nazi grenade on December 3rd, 1943 in the Battle of Monte LA Defense.

BASH: Your name is Ben?

BEN SHERIDAN, NEPHEW OF BEN BERNSTEIN: Correct.

BASH: You are named for your uncle.

SHERIDAN: He was a hero. He was always a hero in everybody's eyes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we knew so little. We knew he stormed a hill in Italy and died. We knew he was a paratrooper. We knew he volunteered for a

force. That's about it.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

BASH (voice-over): Now they are here giving their uncle a proper burial.

BASH: This is the grave site of Second Lieutenant Sheldon Finder, who was shot down and killed on August 16th, 1943 during World War II. As you can

see here, he was Jewish, and he's laid to rest beneath a Jewish star. Well, the only other person to die in that very same mission in August of 43 was

Paul Singer. He was also the only other Jew in that mission. He's under a cross that's going to change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In death they are nine feet apart. In life, they were three feet apart. One was the Navigator. One was the Bombardier.

SCHACTER: Paul, on behalf of the members of your family and on behalf of the Jewish people, we welcome you home.

BASH: Your cousin, Paul Singer, died 82 years ago. And he's been under a cross until today. What did -- what did it mean to you to be here and to be

a part of the ceremony to honor his Jewish faith?

JODI REFF, COUSIN OF PAUL SINGER: We are very committed Jews, so special to have something from your religion that's now and that's connected families.

BASH: He was orphaned at 16. He was an only child.

REFF: Right.

BASH: Probably why it took so long to have this changed?

REFF: Right. Because they -- I'm sure they were trying to contact these aunts of his, but right -- they didn't, you know, there wasn't any other

family. So, it's nice to be able to be here and represent the family, to be able to do this.

BASH (voice-over): Sheldon Finder's family feels the same way.

BASH: So, this is your uncle.

JONATHAN FINDER, NEPHEW OF SHELDON FINDER: That's my uncle Sheldon. Oh, I have a great picture of my father and my uncle as children.

BASH: Did your dad talk about him?

FINDER: Very little, very little. I feel like by being here today, I honor his quiet grieving for his entire life.

BASH: Until now, there was never a proper funeral.

FINDER: No, as a matter of fact, I don't think anyone in my entire family has ever been here before.

BASH (voice-over): The two families met here in Italy for the first time.

REFF: I knew the name, and I knew he was buried here. I didn't know he was buried this close, but then to meet them is really incredible.

RICY REFF, RELATIEV OF PAUL SINGER: It puts a lot of meaning to this whole experience that it's not just about one person, it's about all of these

individuals.

BASH (voice-over): Headstones in military cemeteries can only be changed with approval from soldiers' families. Shalom Lamm does the research.

LAMM: The amount of proof we're required to deliver it to the American Battle Monuments Commission is really huge. It's really tough, and it

should be tough. We're changing something for eternity.

BASH (voice-over): The stone from the cross that's removed never leaves the cemetery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We lower our heads in gratitude and respect to these silent, civil sentinels who have so majestically stood guard over these

young men for all of these decades. How magnificent is it that these men here in these grounds were comrades in arms against the common foe, good on

one side and absolute evil on the other.

[11:55:00]

BASH (voice-over): Dana Bash, CNN, Nettuno, Italy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: Really powerful piece there. We'll have much more "One World" after this short break. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END