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One World with Zain Asher
Wednesday Marks 600 Days Of War; U.S. Embassies Instructed To Pause Student VISA Appointments; Manhunt Underway For Two Inmates Who Escaped New Orleans Jail; President Trump Taking Questions At Swearing-In Ceremony; Trump Delays His E.U. Tariffs Until July 9th; Former Exotic Dancer Speaks To CNN About His Testimony; Three Fresh Faces Take On Harry Potter Lead Roles; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired May 28, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Six hundred days of war in Gaza. What will it take to move the needle?
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: The second hour of "ONE WORLD" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it if not a war crime? We need to fight, but this is not a war against Hamas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Six hundred days of suffering. We'll bring you reflections from both sides of the border.
ASHER: Also ahead, RFK Jr. says healthy pregnant women and children can skip the COVID vaccine. We'll tell you what the science says.
And later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMIONE GRANGER, HARRY POTTER CHARACTER: I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea that is killed, or worse, expelled.
RON WEASLEY, HARRY POTTER CHARACTER: She needs to sort out her priorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Who's brave enough to fill the shoes of this iconic trio? The cast of the small screen adaptation of Harry Potter has finally been
announced. Who they are and what J.K. Rowling thinks. That's just ahead.
ASHER: All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. You're watching "ONE WORLD."
A death toll in the tens of thousands, the threat of famine, hostage crisis and a shattered ceasefire.
ASHER: And that's been 600 days since Hamas stormed into southern Israel killing 1,200 people and abducting more than 250 others. Nearly 86 weeks
later, the war rages on with no end in sight.
The U.N. warns, it's a race against time for the more than two million Palestinians living in Gaza, a population teetering on the edge of
catastrophe. Scenes out of Rafah on Tuesday highlight the desperation amid a growing humanitarian disaster following an 11-week Israeli blockade on
all food and aid, stopping Palestinians rushed a controversial U.S. and Israeli-backed distribution site that began operating in southern Gaza.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. One person was killed, adding to a total death toll that the health ministry says is now more than 54,000 over the past 600 days.
An American trauma surgeon who recently volunteered in Gaza spoke with the U.N. earlier. I want to warn you his remarks are graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FEROZE SIDHWA, U.S. DOCTOR IN GAZA: I did not see or treat a single combatant during my five weeks in Gaza. My patients were 6-year-olds with
shrapnel in their heart and bullets in their brains, and pregnant women whose pelvises had been obliterated and their fetuses cut into while still
in the womb.
Mothers sheltering in the hospital cooked bread on hot plates in the emergency department during mass casualty events as we dealt with the rain
of fire and death falling around us everywhere.
Mr. President, the foundations of life in Gaza, family, health and community have been shattered. The medical system has not failed. It has
been systematically dismantled through a sustained military campaign that has willfully violated international humanitarian law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: In Israel, the pain and suffering from October 7th has not gone away. The fate of 58 hostages in Hamas captivity still hangs in the
balance. Here's how one family member of a hostage who has been released described the last 600 days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EFRAT MACHIKAWA, NIECE OF RELEASED HOSTAGE: Today marks 600 days, 600 days since 58 innocent people were kidnapped by Hamas and dragged into the
tunnels of Gaza. Six hundred days of darkness, six hundred days without freedom, six hundred days of abandonment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: CNN's Alex Marquardt joins us live now from Washington. So when you think about this sobering milestone, 600 days, Alex, just talk to us about
where we are now. You've got 58 hostages still in captivity in Gaza. You've got Israelis growing increasingly disillusioned with the Netanyahu
government. And you've got obviously protests happening right now. People are really anxious to bring those remaining hostages home.
[12:05:09]
And when you think about what's happening to Gaza, I mean, you've got the Israelis potentially talking about taking over 75 percent of the enclave,
and then we're seeing these really upsetting sites, images with the distribution of aid happening. Just walk us through where we are now,
especially because there's only incremental movement in terms of a lasting ceasefire.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Zain and Bianna, I think if you had told any of us back in the fall of 2023 that we would
still be covering this war 600 days later in the summer of 2025, that there would be more than 54,000 people killed in Gaza, most of them women and
children, we would all be shocked.
We have run out of the superlatives to describe the desperation, the destruction, the sadness, the anger. You know, I've covered war zones
around the world. I've seen destruction in places like Syria and Ukraine, but no one who has covered modern war has seen devastation and destruction
like this in Gaza. So much of the -- the -- the Gaza Strip is uninhabitable. The majority of the buildings there damaged or destroyed.
The United States, the Europeans, the Arab countries, they have all failed to try to get to some kind of resolution between Israel and Hamas, and we
are truly at an impasse right now with Hamas saying that they will not return all the hostages until Israel agrees to an end to the war. And
Israel saying that they will not end the war until Hamas has been completely destroyed.
I've spent most of the past 20 months covering all the twists and turns of the ceasefire negotiations, the prospect of ending this war.
And in that time, there have been two obvious highlights. The first ceasefire in November of 2023, not long after the war started. And then
earlier this year in January and February, when 33 Israeli hostages were released and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were released, and aid was
finally let into the -- the Gaza Strip.
It was a moment for Israelis and Palestinians to -- to hug -- hug their loved ones, to take a break from this war, to get some much needed respite.
But now, this war is -- is raging again.
We heard throughout the Biden administration, throughout 2024, when there was no ceasefire at all, that we were very close, that the gaps were being
bridged. Secretary Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, saying we're inside the 10-yard line. But it took President Trump coming into office,
and really the Netanyahu government wanting to please him to get that ceasefire deal across the finish line, just as Trump took over the
presidency.
But now this war is raging again, we are seeing scenes of devastation and that desperation and hunger that are reaching such extraordinary extremes.
And in Israel, we are seeing so much sadness and anger directed towards the Israeli government. More than 50 hostages, both dead and alive, who need to
be brought home, that anger growing against an Israeli government that has admitted that bringing the hostages home is a lower priority than fighting
against Hamas.
And then from our perspective as journalists, there is so much frustration and anger because we cannot cover this war in Gaza. Israel and Egypt are
not letting journalists into Gaza to cover it independently.
Yes, there are embeds with the IDF, but that is very different than reporting independently. So we are relying on Palestinian journalists to
get the word out, to get video out, to do interviews, and so many Palestinian journalists have been killed.
So here we are 600 days later. The Trump administration saying that they came into office with confidence they could -- that they could end this
war. They believe they can end this war. But right now, as things stand, Zain and Bianna, there is no end in sight to this war.
ASHER: You know, Alex, that was really powerful. Thank you for sharing that, because so much of our time as journalists get spent covering the
sort of incremental movement that we get every single day. And so for you to give us that really powerful bird's-eye perspective, I'm sure our
audience really appreciated that.
Thank you so much, Alex.
MARQUARDT: Thank you.
ASHER: All right. We turn now to Donald Trump's ongoing fight with some of America's leading universities. And we start with his main target, Harvard.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. After freezing billions in grants and contracts, the Trump administration seems to be dead set on cutting all remaining ties with
Harvard. And the head of Trump's task force on dealing with anti-Semitism on campus says that the pressure will continue.
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LEO TERRELL, FEDERAL TASK FORCE TO COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM: This is going to stop. We're going to a full front of activity in the courtroom. We're going
to meet them in court. And one other fact is I cannot disclose. We are going to go after them or rehearse them financially.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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ASHER: Trump's latest move goes well beyond Harvard. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has now put a pause on new student visa application
appointments for all foreign students who want to study at American universities.
Rubio says the embassy should take a closer look at student social media profiles before approving their visas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSCAR ESCOBAR, HARVARD GRADUATE STUDENT: We are not the enemy. We -- we are actually participating in this system, making this country bigger, if you
want it better in a -- in a sense.
And so I would just say that, we are not the enemy. We -- you don't have to fight us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Let's go to the White House now and CNN's Kevin Liptak.
So, despite getting some significant amount of pushback from the judicial system here, judge after judge, whether Republican, president appoint or
democratic appointed, they are telling this administration to slow down, to stop what they're doing in many respects, that it's unconstitutional.
Nonetheless, this administration is moving forward targeting not only Harvard, but now taking it a step further on this issue in terms of student
visa pauses.
What led to this moment, Kevin?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And I think it's clear that the Trump administration views this fight with Harvard as part of this
broader attempt to bring in to check some of these elite institutions in the United States that they say are espousing liberal bias, that they want
to sort of put those institutions on notice, that that sort of bias won't be tolerated, particularly when they're receiving money from the U.S.
government.
When it comes to these student visas, this will affect institutions across the U.S., not just Harvard.
What Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, has done is issued this cables to embassies and consulates around the world, directing them to put a pause on
interviews for potential students looking to come to the United States to study. The pause will allow for more time to investigate social media.
But when you talk to administration officials and one of them, the Education Secretary Linda McMahon was on CNBC earlier today, she couldn't
necessarily specify what they'll be looking for in this audit of potential foreign students coming into the United States. And so the objective in
some ways is unclear.
But when you talk about the financial effect that this will have on universities, it could be significant. Foreign students often pay full
tuition, which allows these universities to offer a financial aid to American students.
So this could have a serious financial effect on top of the existing financial effect of canceling grants, of canceling federal contracts with
institutions like Harvard.
So clearly, this is all progressing. There will be a court hearing tomorrow on this question of enrolling foreign students. And that is where all of
this is heading into the courts.
GOLODRYGA: We'll be paying close attention to that court -- court hearing tomorrow.
CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak, thank you.
ASHER: All right. With more perspective on all of this in terms of how it's impacting the 1.1 million international students who are currently studying
at American universities, we are joined live now by Julia Gelatt. She is the Associate Director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the
Migration Policy Institute.
Julia, I'm curious how this affects international students who are already in the country versus the international students who are abroad and looking
to get a visa or student visa to come and study at American universities.
Obviously, for those students who are out of the country right now, everything is in limbo. They're -- they're not granting any visa
appointments. But for students who are in the United States right now, let's say you've just finished your freshman year at Princeton or Yale or
wherever, and you had plans to travel out of the country to go and see your family internationally.
You would probably advise against that, I'm assuming. I mean, if you are in the country right now, your best bet is to stay here and just sort of sit
tight. Just give us your take on that.
JULIA GELATT, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE: Right. This can affect students in the United States if their visas have expired while
they've been here. So, a visa is really a travel permission.
Some students are studying legally in the United States. They're here with status, but their visa stamp has expired. So if they want to travel abroad
to go on vacation, to go home to see their parents, they may need to renew their visa to come back. If they're not able to get an appointment, that
could really hurt their ability to come back into the United States.
And then as you said, for new students who want to come to the United States, some might be trying to come for summer programs. Others might be
looking ahead to starting a new program in the fall. If this pause continues long enough, that could really prohibit their ability to come and
study in the U.S.
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GOLODRYGA: Julia, what do you make of the argument? And I guess the -- the requirement which has been in place since 2019 for visa applicants to
provide social media identifiers on visa applications, this is what at least the State Department and the administration is saying is a way to go
through some of their postings.
We -- we constantly hear from the Secretary of State that it is a privilege to get a visa to be a student here in this country, not a requirement. I
mean, where is that argument going to stand before a judge?
GELATT: You know, I think it really depends how this plays out. I mean, the -- the State Department and DHS are charged with keeping our country safe
and not letting people into the United States who could cause us harm.
If somebody has posted something on their social media that indicates an allegiance to a terrorist group or some intention to hurt the United
States, of course, we would want to know that and prevent that person potentially from coming to the U.S.
But we've seen the Trump administration looking at people's social media, and in some cases, taking away student status in the United States because
of things that they've said in terms of political speed. And that was a very serious question.
It's about speech rights of student visa policies and about what authority the government really has.
People in the United States do have a lot more ability to assert their rights than people who are applying for visas from abroad, however. So if
somebody is denied a visa based on their political speech only, it could be hard for them to contest their ability to come to the United States.
ASHER: Julia, just talk to us really about what this fight is actually about. I mean, when you think about the 1.1 million international students
in the U.S., I mean, how many of them, what percentage of them, actually genuinely pose a national security threat to the United States?
I mean, how much of this is actually about a genuine threat that some of these students could pose versus culture wars?
GELATT: I think it's very uncommon that international students come here and present a threat. If somebody wishes the U.S. harm, they're much, maybe
not much, but they're easier pathways for them to come to the United States. And we do have a robust --
ASHER: Right.
GELATT: -- cutting system.
ASHER: Easier pathways than applying for Harvard, right?
GELATT: Right, exactly. That is a very difficult way to get here. And, yes, I mean, you know, this administration is questioning the value of legal
immigration, of immigration of all kinds, whether that's students, whether that's workers, whether that's people who are coming to seek asylum. There
seems to be a lot of skepticism that it's good for the country to allow in any immigrants. And so, you know, this does appear to be part of that
broader resistance to immigration.
ASHER: Julia Gelatt of the Migration Policy Institute, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
GOLODRYGA: Well, right now, U.S. Vice President JD Vance is delivering a keynote speech at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Las Vegas.
ASHER: Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are also expected to make an appearance later on.
Today, this comes as President Trump continues to embrace the crypto industry during his second term.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And the day after the Trump Media and Technology Group announced plans to raise $2.5 billion to buy Bitcoin.
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten joins us now. And, Harry, how do Americans feel? That's how we started yesterday. Harry's here to talk about
how Americans are feeling. Go.
No. But as it relates to --
ASHER: You're actually going to pose a question. He never answers the question.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: No.
GOLODRYGA: As it relates to -- no.
ASHER: Just says what he wants.
GOLODRYGA: Because, Harry, you know, the last term, President Trump was quite crypto skeptical, one could say.
Now, he and his family are profiting quite immensely off of it. It is a growing industry. Just talk about how Americans view it.
ENTEN: Yes, OK. I am going to answer the question. And then at the end, we will talk a little bit more.
How are Americans feeling about cryptocurrency? Let's just say it is a mountains of difference from how they felt a decade ago right around the
time that Donald Trump was first running for the presidency.
What are we talking about here? Well, let's just ask the basic question. Should crypto be legal?
You go back a decade ago, a little bit more than a decade ago. It was just 38 percent of Americans. I would never have possibly imagined that at this
particular point in time, in 2025, 55 percent of Americans believe that crypto should be legal. Just 38 percent believe it should be illegal at
least most of the time. So that is part of the equation that's going on.
The other part or a second part of the equation that's going on with concern of Donald Trump is how crypto owners feel about him. Take a look at
this trend line. OK.
Trump's margin among crypto owners compared to overall. You go back five years ago, the 2020 election. Donald Trump actually underperformed with
crypto voters. He did about four points worse on the margin than he did overall. He lost crypto owners to Joe Biden in 2020.
[12:20:01]
But then between 2020 and 2024, Donald Trump started to become much more pro-crypto. And guess what? Crypto owners and the crypto industry backed
him immensely.
What are we talking about? In 2024, look at that. Donald Trump did 19 points better among crypto owners than he did overall. I don't think it's
much of a big statement to say that without crypto owners, Donald Trump may have very well have lost the 2024 election because of their huge backing.
He was able to defeat Kamala Harris. OK?
So we're talking about public opinion. We're talking about crypto owners. But, of course, Donald Trump's economic stake in this ties it all together.
What are we talking about here? Well, let's take a look here. The Trump family paper gains from crypto. Holy Toledo, look at that. $1 billion
about. This is an April estimate from Bloomberg.
So it all kind of comes together, right, where we're talking about the public is more and back up crypto. Crypto owners backed Donald Trump and
Donald Trump has never looked away from a profit. And his family is making a tremendous gain when we're talking about nearly a billion dollars or
therein about my goodness gracious.
And let me just end one last thing, Zain. A cryptocurrency is basically a currency that is not backed by a bank or by a central government. It is a
digital currency. See?
ASHER: Oh, he's got a definition for me because I tested him on air. Last - - I don't know if you were here, I tested him on air asking about the meme coin and he did not define it. And so he ended proving --
ENTEN: Bianna was right there.
ASHER: -- that he knows his stuff.
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
ASHER: You were there.
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
ASHER: OK.
GOLODRYGA: I never doubted you.
ENTEN: Thank you very much. I just couldn't hear there's so much crosstalk sometimes. But this time, I got it out.
GOLODRYGA: I'm just surprised there's no movie reference this time.
ASHER: I know. "Back to the Future," normally.
GOLODRYGA: Save one for tomorrow, Harry Enten.
ENTEN: I'll bring one next time.
GOLODRYGA: OK. We'll see you. We'll hold you to account.
ASHER: And then maybe.
GOLODRYGA: Bye, Harry.
ASHER: All right. Still to come.
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JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So four months in, how would you grade Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd give Trump right now a B plus.
KING: If you had one minute with President Trump, what would you say?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think I'd want a minute.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: As U.S. President Donald Trump continues laying out his economic and domestic agenda, how do voters feel about some of his policies? CNN's John
King heads to the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
GOLODRYGA: From a B plus to I don't want to talk to him. Wow.
Plus, the dramatic capture of two escaped U.S. prisoners, as the search continues for three more convicted criminals who remain on the run.
Also ahead.
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SHARAY "THE PUNISHER" HAYES, EXOTIC DANCER WHO TESTIFIED IN COMBS TRIAL: I just saw it as an opportunity. I see this stunningly beautiful woman. And,
you know, $2,000 for this type of interaction was, you know, kind of like a no-brainer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: The male exotic dancer who testified during the criminal trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs offers an apology to the music mogul's former
girlfriend.
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[12:25:32]
ASHER: All right. The search is on for two southern U.S. states for escaped criminals.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. In Louisiana, two of the 10 inmates who broke out of a New Orleans jail almost two weeks ago, are still on the run. Eight are now back
in custody, including Leo Tate and Jermaine Donald, the first of those escapees to be found outside Louisiana. They were arrested Monday in Texas
after what police described as a high-speed chase.
ASHER: CNN's senior U.S. national correspondent, Ryan Young, is following the latest story for us -- the latest on the story for us from Atlanta.
So, Ryan, what more do we know about -- about the manhunt here?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This case has been completely wild. You're talking about 10 escapees who basically went out
through a wall, then out of back door at the jail, then over a fence and across a highway.
And then five of them were captured right there in New Orleans. The others have gotten away for more than a week. And now we're starting to see more
arrests.
Talking about that high-speed chase. At some points, the -- the mile per hour was over 90 miles per hour. But we'll show you some of this video
during that capture and the end of the high-speed chase. Take a watch.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You move to the right side of the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Go on, dude.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I'm not holding you. You kidding me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: As everyone else involved in this. The AR-15, the assault rifle that's out, the directions that are being given here.
What we do know is the citizens of America have been doing a very good job of calling in to Crime Stoppers, which is a phone number that helps give
tips to police to sort track these folks down.
This has been ongoing investigation. And take a listen to the DA of the area talk about all the tips that have been coming in.
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JASON WILLIAMS, ORLEANS PARISH DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We've got a lot of leads. The Crime Stoppers tips are coming in. My office, my digital forensics team
has been scouring through hours and hours of jail calls using some AI software to figure out who they were in contact with the night before hours
before to figure out where they may have been heading.
Their circle is tightened as people who are assisting are being arrested, that circle is tightening around these last two.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. President Trump is taking questions at the Oval Office on Russian piece. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Is dealing with them very strongly right now. They -- they seem to want to do something. But until
the document is signed, I can't tell you. Nobody can.
I can say this -- I can say this that I'm very disappointed at what happened a couple of nights now where people were killed in the middle of
what you would call a negotiation. I'm very disappointed by that. Very, very disappointed.
Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You've heard from (INAUDIBLE) humanitarian crisis and the decision of Prime Minister Netanyahu to extend the military operation.
Do you have any frustration of his handling of the situation of the war?
TRUMP: No. We're dealing with the -- the whole situation in Gaza. We're getting food to -- to the people of Gaza. It's -- it's been a very nasty
situation, very nasty fight. October 7th was a very nasty day. The worst that I think I've ever seen. It was a horrible day and people aren't going
to forget that either. So we'll see how that all works out.
And, Steve, would you want to say a couple of words about Gaza because you just have some information?
Steve Witkoff, do you want to come up for a second? You might give them a little bit of information as to what's happening with Gaza and also Israel.
We're having some very good talks with Iran. We'll find out whether that means anything, but we're having good talks.
STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: Congratulations. Well -- hi, everybody.
I think we -- I think that we are on the precipice of sending out a new term sheet that hopefully will be delivered later on today. The president
is going to review it. And I have some very good feelings about getting to a long-term resolution, temporary cease -- temporary ceasefire, and a long-
term resolution, a peaceful resolution of that conflict.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, you said --
TRUMP: Something to do with Iran. We're having very good talks with Iran.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, you said yesterday that Putin is playing with fire. What would the consequences for Russia if he continues to brush
and continue that?
TRUMP: Well, I'm not going to tell you exactly, but the words speak pretty loud. We're not -- we're not happy about that situation.
I think we're -- we're doing very well with Iran. I think we're doing very well with Gaza, but we are doing very well with Iran. And I think we're
going to see some -- some -- something very sensible because there are only two outcomes. You know, the two outcomes is a smart outcome, and this is a
violent outcome. And -- and I don't think anybody wants to see the second.
[12:30:19]
But I think we're -- we've made a lot of progress and we'll see. You know, they still have to agree to the final stages of a document, but I think you
could be very well surprised what happens there. And it would be a great thing for them. And it could have a great country into the future.
Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, Elon Musk in that television interview, criticized the one Big, Beautiful Bill saying he was disappointed. It
didn't cut enough essentially that undercut the DOGE efforts. What's your reaction to that?
TRUMP: Well, our reaction is a lot of things. Number one, we have to get a lot of votes. We can't be cutting. You know, we need -- we need to get a
lot of support. And we have a lot of support. We had to get it through the House. The House was -- we have no Democrats.
You know, if it's up to the Democrats, they'll take the 65 percent increase. You know, if that doesn't get approved, this country is going to
have a 65 percent increase in taxes and lots of other problems, big problems, almost bigger than that. But we'll have a 65 percent increase, as
opposed to the largest tax cut in the history of our country.
We will be negotiating that bill. And I'm not happy about certain aspects of it, but I'm thrilled by other aspects of it. That's the way they go.
It's very big. It's the Big, Beautiful Bill. But the beautiful is because of all of the things we have.
The biggest thing being, I would say, the -- the level of tax cutting that we're going to be doing. We're going to make people really be able to --
we'll have one of the -- we'll have the lowest tax rate we've ever had in the history of our country. And tremendous amounts of benefit are going to
the middle income people of our country, low and middle income people of -- of our country.
So we're going to see what happens because the Senate, as you know, is negotiating with us, and they have to then go back to the House. And, you
know, it's got a way to go.
But I -- I have to say, Speaker Johnson and Thune has done an incredible job. John Thune has done a Fanta -- Leader Thune, a fantastic job, and
they're working together with me and others.
And I think we have an amazing -- if we pull this off -- remember, we have zero Democrat votes because they're bad people. There's something wrong
with them. You know, they're -- they'll let people pour into our country. Single biggest problem is we have 21 million people pour into our country.
Probably higher than that. And the people that weren't supposed to be here. And many of those people are bad, murderers, drug dealers, the mentally
insane.
They were closing mental institutions all over the world, not South America, all over the world. They're coming into our country and we're
getting them out. But we're having a hard time because some judges aren't making it very easy for us. And it's tough enough. And they approve that.
They allow that to happen to our country.
We don't have one Democrat vote. And if I were Democrat, I'd be voting for this bill and I'd get elected to any position I want as a Democrat. They're
crazy. They're voting for a 65 percent tax increase. And they're only doing it for hatred. They're not doing it for any reason. They know it's
terrible.
Terrible politics, in my opinion. But -- so we have no Democrat votes. That means we have to get almost all Republican votes. And I think we're very
close to doing that. I think it'll be very successful.
Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, Wall Street analysts have coined a new term called the Taco Trade. They're saying Trump always chickens out on the
tariff press, and that's why markets are higher this week. What's your response to that?
TRUMP: I kick out?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chicken out.
TRUMP: Oh, I chicken out. I've never heard of that. You mean because I reduced China from 145 percent that I set down to 100 and then down to
another number? And I said, you have to open up your whole country.
And because I -- I gave the European Union a 50 percent tax tariff and they called up and they said, please, let's meet right now. Please, let's meet
right now. And I said, OK, I'll give you till June 9.
I actually asked them. I said, what's the date? Because they weren't willing to meet. And after I did what I did, they said, we'll meet any time
you want. And we have an end date of July 9th. You call that chickening out?
Because we have $14 trillion now invested, committed to investing when Biden didn't have practically anything. Biden, this country was dying. You
know, we have the hottest country anywhere in the world.
I went to Saudi Arabia. The king told me. He said, you got the hottest -- we have the hottest country in the world right now. Six months ago, this
country was stone cold dead. We had a dead country. We had a country people didn't think it was going to survive. And you ask a nasty question like
that.
It's called negotiation. You set a number. And if you go down, you know, if I set a number at a ridiculous high number and I go down a little bit, you
know, a little bit, they want me to hold that number, 145 percent tariff.
[12:35:05]
Even I said, man, that really got up. You know how it got? Because of fentanyl and many other things. And you added it up. I said, where are we
now? We're at 145 percent. I said, whoa, that's high. That's high. They were doing no business whatsoever. And they were having a lot of problems.
We were very nice to China. I don't know if they're going to be nice to us, but we were very nice to China. And in many ways, I think we really helped
China tremendously because, you know, they were having great difficulty because we were basically going cold turkey with China. We were doing no
business because of the tariff, because it was so high. But I knew that.
But don't ever say what you said. That's a nasty question. Go ahead. To me, that's the nastiest question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President --
TRUMP: Wait a minute. Wait, wait. Go ahead, please. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Zelenskyy says he's ready to sit down with you and Vladimir Putin in Geneva. And it sounds like General Kellogg is
working on preparations for that. Are you planning to sit down with the two of them?
TRUMP: Well, I will if it's necessary, you know. It takes -- we have to -- I think at this point, I wish it would have been that way a couple of
months ago. But at this point, we're working on President Putin. And we'll see where we are. I think we're doing fine, but we'll see.
I don't like what's happening. That's one thing I'll say. I don't like -- when I see rockets being shot into cities, that's no good. We're not going
to allow it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People said that the war never would have started if you were --
TRUMP: Would have never happened and it didn't happen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he doesn't seem willing to do anything that you want him to do. Do you still believe that that he wouldn't have launched
the war?
TRUMP: No, no. We would have never had a war. We would have never had a war. If I were President, the election weren't rigged, you wouldn't have
had the war. You wouldn't have had the war, you wouldn't have had inflation, you wouldn't have had October 7th. That would have never
happened because Iran was stone cold broke. They didn't have any money to give to Hamas or Hezbollah.
You wouldn't have had that Afghanistan most embarrassing moment in the history of our country. You wouldn't have had any of it. You wouldn't have
had inflation because energy costs.
Look what happened. I brought inflation down to practically zero and all of the groceries and all of the eggs and all of the things that you've been
hearing about, they're back down. They're way down from where they were.
I did something in four months that nobody's seen. And I have to say, in four months, and I said it before, and everyone's talking about it all over
the world, we've got the hottest country anywhere in the world right now. We're the only country anybody's even talking about.
All right, please. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's stopped you from imposing new sanctions on Russia?
TRUMP: Only the fact that if I think I'm close to getting a deal, I don't want to screw it up by doing that.
Let me tell you, I'm a lot tougher than the people you're talking about. But you have to know when to use that. If I think it's going to hurt a
deal, this isn't my war. This is Biden's war, Zelenskyy's war, and Putin's war. This isn't Trump's war.
I'm only here for one thing to see if I can end it, to save 5,000 lives a week. And a lot of money. The money being much less important. Because I
made that money.
I went to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE. And we brought back $5.1 trillion. So I made that money in about two hours, the money that we're talking
about. But it's still three -- think of it, $300 million we've spent with no checks, no balances. They just send cash.
You can imagine what's happened to that money. I never saw anything like it in my life. But I'm more interested because I picked up $5.1 trillion.
And by the way, got a beautiful, big, magnificent free airplane for the United States Air Force, OK? Very proud of that, too. They tried to say,
oh, it's Trump's airplane. Oh, yes, sure. It's too big. It's frankly, it's -- it's too big. Much too big.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That means that has to be the Air Force One. TRUMP: Well, it's here already.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TRUMP: It's in the country. It's being refitted for military standard.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much will it cost to refit it?
TRUMP: Oh, I don't know. Whatever it is. A lot -- hell of a lot less than building a new one. We're waiting too long from Boeing. Boeing has got to
get its act together.
Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, on Nippon's (ph) deal, this arrangement that was just announced in --
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- is that an arrangement you would consider for TikTok as well?
TRUMP: Nothing to do with TikTok. Totally different kind of a deal. We'll have to get -- you know, to do it properly, we'll probably have to get
China's approval. China's never easy. China's never easy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: TikTok.
TRUMP: But I think -- yes, I think we'll be able to save TikTok. I'd like to save TikTok. I mean, TikTok was very good to me. I won the young people
by 37 percent. No Republicans ever won. And I won by 37 percent.
And Charlie Kirk will tell you, TikTok helped. But Charlie Kirk helped also.
Oh. He just happens to be here. Look at it. He loves that we mentioned that name, right Charlie? He's done great. And I appreciate all the help.
But with young people, we won by 37 percent, Charlie. And you helped, but TikTok was amazing. And he was the first one. He said, get on TikTok. So I
have a little bit of a warm spot. I know I shouldn't. They'll say, quid pro quo. Put him in jail for the rest of his life. Quid pro quo.
[12:40:10]
No, TikTok was very good to me. I won young people. I don't know if it was because of TikTok, but it was -- it was something happened.
No Republican has ever won the -- they call them young people. Young people, you can define it a lot of different ways, but I won every age
group in young people.
And it never happened and won by 37 percent. That's a lot. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back on -- back on Iran, did you warn Prime Minister Netanyahu against taking some sort of actions that could disrupt the talks
there in a phone call last week?
TRUMP: Well, I'd like to be honest. Yes, I did.
Next question, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Transactions.
TRUMP: I did. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Senate Republicans want to push --
TRUMP: It's not a warning. I said, I don't think it's appropriate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What -- what exactly did you tell them? Did you call them?
TRUMP: I just said, I don't think it's appropriate. We're talk -- we're having very good discussions with them. And I said, I don't think it's
appropriate right now. Because if we can settle it with a very strong document, very strong with inspections and no trust, I don't trust anybody.
I don't trust anybody. So no trust.
I want it very strong where we can go in with inspectors. We can take whatever we want. We can blow up whatever we want, but nobody getting
killed. We can blow up a lab, but nobody's going to be in the lab as opposed to everybody being in the lab and blowing it up, right? Two ways of
doing it. Yes. I told them this would be inappropriate to do right now because we're very close to a solution.
Now, that could change at any moment. It could change with a phone call. But right now, I think they want to make a deal. And if we can make a deal,
they save a lot of lives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) but I think you think a deal could happen on Iran.
TRUMP: On which?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A deal with Iran could happen when they do it.
TRUMP: Oh, I don't know. I think over the next couple of weeks if it happens. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And on the -- when could the -- the administration resume the interviews for foreign students visa? When do you think your
administration could resume these interviews?
TRUMP: On what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From the foreign student visa. Yesterday there was a - -
TRUMP: For the French visa?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For the foreign. French, all the -- or the foreign students.
TRUMP: Or for the foreign visas? What are you referring, foreign visas for what? Are you talking about for colleges?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TRUMP: OK. So you're off of Israel. Now you're talking about colleges, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, now.
TRUMP: OK. Well, we're going to see. Look, Harvard has been a disaster. They've taken five plus, by the way, $5 billion plus. Five billion. Nobody
knew that they were making this kind of. If we didn't do this, nobody would have if -- we would have never found this out, Pam.
They're taking $5 billion. And I'd rather see that money go to trade schools. And by the way, they're totally anti-Semitic at Harvard, as you
know. And some other colleges too, in all fairness to them. And it's been exposed, very exposed.
And I think they're dealing very badly. Every time they fight, they lose another $250 million. Yesterday, we found another $100 million.
And they have -- you know, they have a fund, 52 -- an endowment. $52 billion. All right? They get a lot of that from the United States. And I
think it's ridiculous.
I think this -- everyone's coming up to me saying, we love the idea of trade schools. With that kind of money, and money from others, but money
from them. You can have the best trade schools anywhere in the world. You give them to Iowa, Indiana. Lots of good states, well-run states.
And you give them the money, they can only be used for trade schools. And they'll teach people how to build motors and cars and AI. You know, the AI,
we're building plants. We're building hundreds of billions of dollars worth of AI plants. Already started many of them. We've never had a boom like
we're having now. You're going to see it.
There's never been anything like it. So we're up to about $14 trillion in investments. There's never been anything even close. You look at Biden,
this guy, they had people leaving as opposed to investing. And they're doing it because of November -- really November 5th. And they're doing it
because of the tariffs. The tariffs have been tremendous.
Well, I -- I can promise you, and I have great respect for the people at the European Union. They wouldn't be over here today negotiating if I
didn't put a 50 percent tariff on.
The sad thing is now when I make a deal with them, it's something much more reasonable. They'll say, oh, he was chicken. He was chicken. That's so
unbelievable.
I usually have the opposite problem. They say, you're too tough.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, on Harvard, there were some Jewish students protesting on campus yesterday. They said they don't want you
making these huge cuts, cutting off student visas to Harvard in their name because --
[12:45:00]
TRUMP: Well, Harvard has to show us -- OK. Harvard has to show us their lists. They have foreign students, about 31 percent of their students are
foreign-based, almost 31 percent.
We want to know where those students come. Are they troublemakers? What countries do they come?
And we're not going to -- if somebody is coming from a certain country and they're 100 percent fine, which I hope most of them are, but many of them
won't be, you're going to see some very radical people. They're taking people from areas of the world that are very radicalized. And we don't want
them making trouble in our country.
So I saw yesterday that in the middle -- in the middle of the U.K., there was a nice young man. He wants to go back to school at Harvard, and he
looked at it to me, but I want to check his past. But we want to be able to see.
Why -- you know, these countries aren't helping us. They're not investing in Harvard and all of our -- we are. So why would 31 percent? Why would a
number so big?
I think a -- number one, I think they should have a cap of maybe around 15 percent, not 31 percent.
We have people want to go to Harvard and other schools, they can't get in, because we have foreign students there.
But I want to make sure that the foreign students are people that can love our country. We don't want to see shopping centers exploding. We don't want
to see the kind of riots that you had.
And I'll tell you what, many of those students didn't go anywhere. Many of those students would troublemakers caused by the radical left lunatics in
this country.
One more question. Go ahead, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will -- will you pardon the people who are accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer?
TRUMP: I'm going to look at it. I will take a look at it. It's been brought to my attention. I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a
railroad job. I'll be honest with you. To me, like some people said some stupid things, you know. They were drinking. And I think they said stupid
things. But I'll take a look at that.
And a lot of people are asking me that question from both sides, actually. A lot of people think they got railroaded. A lot of people think they got
railroaded. And probably some people don't know.
One more. Go ahead. Yes. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about the confrontation with Harvard end? Do you -- do you see --
TRUMP: I don't know. I don't know. Harvard's got to behave themselves. Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect. And all they're
doing is getting in deeper and deeper and deeper. They've got to behave themselves.
You know, I'm looking -- I'm looking out for the country. And -- and for Harvard, I want Harvard to do well. I want Harvard to be great again,
probably. Because how could it be great? How could it be great when you have Harvard announced two weeks ago that they are going to teach remedial
mathematics?
Remedial, meaning they're going to teach low grade mathematics, like --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: All right. You've been listening to President Trump there speaking at the Oval Office at the swearing-in of Jeanine Pirro for U.S.
Attorney in Washington, D.C., taking questions and responding on a number of international issues. There you hear him talking about the student visa
pause for universities in the United States and has increased battle with Harvard University.
But he also weighed in on the war in Ukraine, saying that he is not happy with the situation in Russia. He was asked about why not doubling down and
increasing sanctions against Vladimir Putin. He said that he still wants to work towards a deal and said he worries about the impact that could have on
a potential deal.
He also called up Steve Witkoff, the special envoy to the Middle East, and asked to him to comment on the current standing of negotiations for a
ceasefire hostage deal. This 600-day mark happens to be today since the October 7th attacks. And Steve Witkoff said that we are on the precipice of
sending a new term sheet that would lead to a temporary ceasefire and then hopefully a longer term resolution to ending the war.
And then interesting that the president was very keen on asking Steve Witkoff or reporters to -- to ask questions about Iran and the standing of
the talks there. He said that they are moving forward. They are going quite successfully. And that he said, and this is probably one of the most
newsworthy aspects of this news conference, where he said that he warned Prime Minister Netanyahu against any action against Iran right now, saying
that they are working towards a deal, that any action that Israel would take at this moment would be, quote, not appropriate.
So we will continue to follow this story and keep a close eye on. I believe that that news conference just wrapped up. But that's sort of the sum of
what we heard from the president and we'll be right back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:08]
GOLODRYGA: Testimony is underway in the federal criminal trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs. On the stand right now, a friend of Combs' former
girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.
ASHER: She's the former assistant to Combs, Capricorn Clark, testified that Combs threatened to kill fellow musician, Kid Cudi, after learning that
Cudi was dating his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.
GOLODRYGA: The jury has already heard from 19 witnesses. Among them, a former male exotic dancer nicknamed, The Punisher, who testified last week
that he was paid to have sexual encounters with Ventura. He spoke to CNN about his testimony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAYES: Initially I did not know who they were. And so I just saw it as an opportunity. I see this stunningly beautiful woman and, you know, $2,000
for this type of interaction was, you know, kind of like a no-brainer.
LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: You testified you did not feel as though she was uncomfortable at all. Can you explain?
HAYES: Yes. So there was always like before the sexual activity, there was always like downtime. So I would be greeted by a Cassie kind of put in a
room and we have casual conversation.
COATES: About how long did that last?
HAYES: Ten, fifteen minutes, you know, and -- and it would be, you know, consistent. How's work going? How's the parties? How's things? So it seemed
like a very cordial laidback situation. And I actually believed that the scenario was real. It was like a birthday. This was something they were
doing as a couple that wasn't normal. I mean, that wasn't their norm.
And I honestly thought I was the only person they were engaging with. So I had almost a -- a belief that I was, wow, like this is a cool thing. Like
I'm the person they're choosing for this kind of fetish type of environment.
And -- and I --
COATES: Nothing seemed illegal to you or anything out of sorts?
HAYES: Not even close. Like I -- I didn't even get any thought of anybody being like under the influence of any drugs or anything. It was -- it seems
like a very -- for the circumstance, everybody was just normally in their right state of mind. And this was just something they did for sexual
pleasure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Sharay Hayes went on to offer a message of apology to Ventura. Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that included racketeering and sex
trafficking.
And finally, it's been the biggest question since HBO announced it was making a Harry Potter TV series, who will play the three lead characters?
GOLODRYGA: Well, now we know. These three fresh face kids will take on -- look how cute they are, take on the roles of Hermione, Harry, and Ron.
Dominic McLaughlin will play the title character, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger. And Alastair Stout is Ron Weasley. Perfect cast, I think.
ASHER: I know. They look -- they look the part.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Super cute.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WEASLEY: Once I make my move, the queen will take me. Then you're free to check the king.
HARRY POTTER, HARRY POTTER CHARACTER: No. Ron, no.
GRANGER: What is it?
POTTER: He's going to sacrifice himself.
[12:55:01]
GRANGER: No, you can't. There must be another way.
WEASLEY: Do you want to stop Snape from getting that stone or not?
Harry, it's you that has to go on. I know it. Not me. Not Hermione, you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: They take over from the iconic roles from Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint.
GOLODRYGA: Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling says all three are wonderful. I couldn't be happier. HBO and CNN are owned by the same parent company.
ASHER: All right. That does it for us here on ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. Thanks for watching. Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back with "AMANPOUR."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
